Repercussions of the Chamber
by BlockPlacer
Summary: After Harry saved Ginny in the Chamber, what if more had come from it? Now, they are tied together in more ways than one, but how will that affect their future lives at Hogwarts? Another typical soul-bond fic, because I just can't get enough of them. And as I now realise, the characters are acting OOC. Harry/Ginny. Rating may increase with later content.
1. Aftermath of the Chamber

**A/N** \- This is my first time writing fanfiction, and has been prompted by my enjoyment of many other stories found on this site. Many of my ideas may have already been used, but they are from so many different stories that I can't keep track and give credit to them all. Just know that if I did get it from somewhere other than the books, It should be in my favourite stories. If not, please tell me and I will fix it. Other than that, hee is the normal **Disclaimer: The world, characters and plot belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling, who I thank for providing such a wonderful set of stories that I have lost many hours enjoying.** (Also, while the plot is mainly canon to start with, it changes quite drastically later on, and is still noticebaly different at the start).

 **Chapter 1** **\- Aftermath of the Chamber**

 _After the Chamber, when Fawkes has returned them to the Headmaster's Office._

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Professor Lockhart entered The Headmaster's office to find Mrs Weasley frantically pacing while her husband and Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore tried to calm her down. However, as they listened from the doorway, the knowledge that Harry and Ron had also disappeared soon after the announcement along with the DADA teacher did little to calm her nerves.

It was just reaching the point when they didn't think she could get any louder when she spotted the four of them in the doorway, and immediately rushed over to sweep her children into a hug. Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore noticed the strange array of items Harry was holding, and the presence of Fawkes circling above his student's head, but before having a chance to get a word in edgeways to question him, Harry got swept into another of Mrs Weasley's bone-crushing hugs, while she worried profusely over them.

"...so glad you're alright I just couldn't cope if I lost any of my babies oh I don't know what you were thinking running off when Professor Lockhart had it all under control you two..." Mrs Weasley was saying, apparently forgoing the need to breathe in order to fuss over her children.

It was at this moment that she realised breathing was something necessary to allow her to survive, and the momentary pause was all Professor Dumbledore needed to sit them all down and attempt to take control over the situation. Summoning four chairs he invited the newcomers to take a seat, while Mr Weasley pulled his wife away from the children and back down next to him.

As it looked like Mrs Weasley was about to start up again, a very tired Albus Dumbledore quickly headed her off so that he might have a chance of getting to bed that evening, "Molly, you may fuss all you want over them later, but right now it is most imperative we look at the bigger picture and find out what happened to them." As it looked like she was about to blow up again at his suggestion that something might be more important than her mothering instincts, Mr Weasley took matters into his own hands and with a well placed silencing charm, managed to restore order to the office.

While this was all happening, Harry noticed that Ginny, who was in the seat next to him, was looking down at her lap with her arms hanging loosely by her sides and crying. As no one else seemed to be taking any notice of her and he couldn't bear to see her suffering like this, he quickly edged his chair as close as possible towards her and wrapped his right arm over her shoulders, in a sort of sideways hug, while whispering in her ear, "don't worry, they won't expel you, I won't let them."

"How c-could you m-m-make a diff-rence?" She muttered in return.

"I have a lot of leverage I can use as the Boy-who-Lived, and if they still expel you, I'll leave too and we can go to a different school together. I'm not going to let you be alone again - that's how this got started in the first place. I'll always be here for you."

This did make her look slightly happier and so in Harry's mind the rather extreme promise was worth it.

By this point, the Weasley matriarch had just been silenced, and Professor Dumbledore was preparing to question the four chamber-goers.

"Professor Lockhart, can you tell me anything about what happened in the chamber?"

After a few moments of waiting, Ron spoke up. "Um, sir?"

"Yes Mr Weasley?"

"The professor was hit by a strong memory charm, he doesn't remember who he is or even what magic is."

"Is that right? And how did this happen?" Dumbledore sounded slightly intrigued.

"Me and Harry, we'd worked out where the entrance to the chamber was and went to tell Lockhart so he knew where to go. When we got to his office we found him packing, preparing to run away. We disarmed him and made him come with us, being the DADA professor and all, after he told us where he got all the stories for his books from."

Harry spoke up here. "He said he wandered the world, finding people who had experienced adventures, took their stories, then obliviated them. Apparently that is the only magic he actually can do. When we got into the tunnels leading to the chamber, he took Ron's wand and tried to obliviate us, but it backfired and hit him instead. The resulting explosion from Ron's wand caused the tunnel to cave in, leaving them on one side and me on the other."

Picking up his questioning, Dumbledore asked, "but where is the entrance to these tunnels, as no matter how many times we searched the school we couldn't find it."

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. One of the sinks has a snake on it and can only be opened by a Parselmouth. After the cave-in I left Ron trying to make a hole in the rubble while I went ahead to rescue Ginny. In the chamber itself..." Harry shivered, hating what he had seen upon entering the chamber, but steeling himself, forced himself to continue his story. "I saw Ginny as soon as I entered, lying at the far end, pale and still. Then Tom came and told me his life story."

"Excuse me" interjected Mr Weasley, "but who on earth is _Tom_?"

Harry continued, "by this point I was left wondering who he was, and he showed me by writing it in the air." Repeating the show for effect, Harry used his wand to write 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' in the air before giving it a flick and allowing the writing to change.

"'I am Lord Voldermort'" Dumbledore breathed, "an ingenious anagram formed by one of my former students."

Harry once again tried to continue his story, "it was his mind imprint within the diary, that has been controlling Ginny all year..." Breaking off, he handed Dumbledore the bloody, tattered diary and turned his attention to Ginny once again, who's sobs could be heard wracking her body as she found out who had been in her mind all year, her closest confident. He pulled her into his arms as she turned, wordlessly, and clambered onto his lap. Wrapping one arm around her body, he ran his other hand through her long red hair and whispered calming words in her ear once more, "It's okay, he's gone now, he can't hurt you anymore. It wasn't your fault so don't go blaming yourself. Stay calm, I'll always be here for you." He whispered.

While Dumbledore sat examining the diary, Mrs Weasley looked on as Ginny accepted a level of comfort from a boy barely older than herself, instead of her mother, that she had never needed before.

Soon Dumbledore had finished his examination, and addressed Harry. "Mr Potter, if you would please continue you story?"

Harry looked up from muttering to Ginny, and after making sure she was comfortable curled up in his lap with her head on his chest, took a deep breath and continued. "When he had finished his monologue, he called upon the monster in the chamber to attack me."

"And what was it?"

"A basilisk. However, Fawkes soon showed up with the sorting hat. He dropped the hat in my lap, and I remember wondering what use it possibly could have been to me to have it." He was aware of how stupid the next bit sounded after the event. "having no better ideas, I made sure my eyes were closed and pulled it onto my head, where something fell out of it, and taking it off, I suddenly had the sword." He used the hand in Ginny's hair to gesture to it before returning to his earlier stroking, which seemed to calm her considerably. "I picked up the sword and while this had been happening, Fawkes had managed to blind the basilisk so I could open my eyes. After a while of fighting it, I finally managed to stab it."

"There's something you are avoiding telling us" Dumbledore observed.

"As you can see I am fine now, but when I stabbed it, I may have been bitten at the same time, in the arm."

"How on Earth are you still alive then? Basilisk venom is fatal in a matter of seconds."

"I remember crawling back to where Ginny was lying and pulling the fang out" Once again he gestured to it lying on the table. "Then Fawkes came down and cried on me a bit before bringing the diary over."

Mr Weasley once more made his presence known again at this moment by speaking up, "Of course, healing tears!"

"I stabbed the diary with the fang, and the black stuff began oozing out while Tom exploded into dust, at the same time as Ginny woke back up."

"But what was wrong with my daughter in the first place?"

"Tom said something about using he life force to bring himself back to life, but I think that has been prevented. Anyway, after telling Ginny what happened, we went to find Ron and Lockhart, before coming here by flame travel to just outside the door."

Dumbledore spoke up again. "I will need to discuss parts of this with you more Harry, but for now I think all three of you need the hospital wing while I transfer our DADA teacher to St. Mungo's long-term care ward."

With that he left the room with Lockhart, leaving a stunned Professor McGonagall to escort the others to the hospital wing.

 **A/N** \- And there's the first chapter. I currently have the first 14 written, and lots more to come out of my mind and onto the screen. I welcome reviews to help make my writing better. I will also mention, the majority of this story was written while on holiday the previous summer, when I didn't have any internet and so rather than read fanfiction, I started writing it myself. Not much has been written since then, so when I do continue, I will have to read the entire thing again to make sure I know how much I had already included.


	2. The Hospital Wing

**A/N** \- Thanks for all the support I've already received for this story! Here's the next chapter!

 **Chapter 2 - The Hospital Wing**

When they had arrived at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey had immediately started checking all three of them over. While Ron had been allowed to go straight away as he wasn't really injured, the healer had kept both Harry and Ginny overnight, Harry to make sure there were no side effects from the Basilisk venom and Ginny because of the shock she had just experienced. So it was that, after saying goodbye to Harry, Ginny and a non-responsive Hermione, Ron left for Gryffindor tower to tell everyone the news, followed shortly by Mr and Mrs Weasley who were staying in a nearby guest suite and being joined by Bill and Charlie in the morning.

* * *

Later that evening, when Madam Pomfrey had done her final round and gone off to bed, Harry once again heard muffled crying from the next bed. Putting a silencing charm on the office door - something he had learned from Mr Weasley in Dumbledore's office - he lit the room up and crept over to Ginny's bed.

Climbing in, he once again pulled her into his arms and started whispering to her, calming her down. They soon both fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

They woke in the morning to see the bright, twinkling eye of Professor Dumbledore peering at them. Blushing, they started moving apart, but he held up a hand to stop them and spoke quietly, "Don't bother, indeed I believe it may be necessary for you to be in close contact most of the time at the moment, but we shall see."

Before Harry had a chance to ask what he meant, Madam Pomfrey entered the ward and spotted them. "What on earth are you doing in her bed young man? Come on, get out..."

"Ah Poppy, these two students have my permission to be sharing a bed, and I shall be back with my reasoning later, but for now I am afraid I must borrow young Mr Potter for a few minutes to ask him some questions in my office."

"If you insist headmaster but he really should be resting."

"I will bring him back as soon as we are finished. Shall we go?"

"Okay, but Ginny is coming too. I won't leave her alone at the moment." Harry replied.

"That will be fine but we must get going." Dumbledore said as he left for his office, Harry and Ginny clambering out of bed and following behind. Just as they left the hospital wing Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and leaning over, whispered "I said I wouldn't leave you, I would always be here for you didn't I?"

"Yes, and thank you, for everything." She replied quietly, Harry's words eliciting a small smile from the girl.

* * *

When reached his office, Dumbledore once again conjured two more chairs, the ones from the afternoon before having faded as nothing conjured out of nothing could exist for more than a few hours, before sitting down at his desk. However when Harry and Ginny took the offered seats, they merged into one, causing Dumbledore to mutter "interesting, very interesting" under his breath. However, once again he changed the subject before Harry could ask what he meant. Ginny was once again preoccupied with looking down into her lap to notice anything going on around her except Harry, who once again wrapped an arm round her shoulders.

"I must once again impose upon you two to ask a little more about this diary." Dumbledore started. "I understand that this must be a horrible topic for you Ms Weasley but I believe it should be easier with Mr Potter present, who may also need to answer his own questions."

Harry replied for both of them, as Ginny had once again broken down to tears and turned into his shoulder for comfort, "What is it you want to know that couldn't wait, as you can see it is a rather sore topic for Ginny and I would rather avoid upsetting her if possible"

"I don't need to ask much, just what sort of things he told you Ms Weasley when you wrote in it?"

Ginny looked awful, but she slowly looked up into Harry's eyes before across at the Headmaster and quickly answering, in a quiet, scared tone, "He said he understood my pain, no one paying any attention to me, and would be my friend, always looking after me when I was upset. I poured my soul out to him, and he would always respond in the kindest manner possible, I had no idea at the time who it was..."

Harry listened to her speak, and as she broke off, he made her look into his eyes instead of curling back into his shoulder, as he shared his own experiences. "None of us knew who he was Gin, not even I did, I even trusted him to an extent." Then looking at Dumbledore and allowing Ginny to curl back up, "He showed me how Hagrid was framed for letting the monster loose because of the acromantula, and expelled because of it. But when I went to question Hagrid, and then later on Aragog - never want to meet him again - I realised there was no way it could have been him, and started doubting what Tom had told me."

"Yes, Hagrid's involvement was an unfortunate misunderstanding, in fact I may be able to appeal to the Board of Governors to allow him his wand back so he can complete his schooling. But next, what actually happened when you stabbed the diary?"

"He was overly confident of himself, as if nothing could kill him, but when I stabbed it he let out an unearthly scream before combusting into dust on the ground, and then the black goo you see on the diary oozed out of it, before Ginny woke back up."

Once again, Dumbledore returned to muttering, "It does indeed sound like a Horcrux."

Harry decided to ignore this odd statement for now, but did take in the fact that Dumbledore's eye had stopped twinkling. Instead he went back to an earlier statement the Professor had made - "Um, professor, earlier you said you though we may have to be in close contact most the time, and then you weren't surprised when two chairs merged together to make a sofa. I was wondering what you suspected what happening between us?"

"Alas, I cannot answer this question today. I must first do some research but you will be the first to know what I find out. But now, I must ask if you could provide a copy of your memory for the event, and then I must speak to your parents."

After instructing Harry on how to leave the memory in the pensieve, he showed them out the door.

Just before they left, Harry spotted Lucius Malfoy walking down a corridor, and stepped back into the office, asking for the diary. Dumbledore looked a little surprised by the request, but all became clear when he presented it to Lucius Malfoy in a sock, which was thrown over his shoulder and caught by Dobby the house elf. After watching this scene play out, he returned to his office, intent on asking Mr and Mrs Weasley up there as soon as possible. But first, he had to consider how to explain to Madam Pomfrey that it was for the greater good for two students to share a bed. This week was not going well so far, and it was only Tuesday.


	3. School Year Ends Part 1

**A/N** \- Due to popular demand, Here's the next chapter! (Disclaimer in Chapter 1)

 **Chapter 3 - School Year Ends Part 1**

Returning to the hospital wing hand in hand, they were met by the rest of the Weasleys awaiting them.

"Oh there you are where on earth have you been?" Mrs Weasley immediately started fussing and swept them into another famous hug.

"Molly dear, why don't you let them go and tell us themselves?" Arthur tried to placate her. "Besides, we all want to know."

Once Molly let the two youngsters go, they clambered back into bed, separately, but remained hand in hand. This resulted in pointed glares from Ron and Charlie. Choosing to ignore this, Harry started their story of what had happened that morning, but left out anything about what Dumbledore had been muttering.

Just as he finished, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey walked out of the latter's office, Dumbledore presumably having used Fawkes to flame there, and the nurse quickly jumped into action, ushering all six Weasley brothers out of the wing, and Dumbledore invited the elder Weasley's to his office to discuss the previous day's events in more detail. Mrs Weasley looked unhappy at leaving "her baby" again, but with a pointed word from Mr Weasley, consented to come back later.

When they had all left, Madam Pomfrey addressed the two students. "I don't like it, but Dumbledore informs me you must share a bed for now and remain in contact as much as possible. When you have visitors, you will be expected to return to your individual beds, but in private you only need to use one."

As Harry moved across to Ginny's bed, he asked the question on both their minds - "When will Hermione and the others wake up Madam Pomfrey?"

"We should have the Mandrake Draught ready by tomorrow morning. They will all have to stay in overnight, so I will just shut the privacy curtain around you and Harry's empty bed, telling them not to disturb you. They will never know about you sharing a bed, but it will mean you have to stay here for the indefinite future. I'll leave you to get some rest now."

"Okay, thank you."

As she left, Ginny turned into him and broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. Although this was to be expected and had happened a lot recently, this worried Harry as he knew enough from Ron trying to make him think of her as a little sister that she rarely cried.

"Hey, what's wrong Gin?"

"I c-can just tell they're g-g-going to ex-pel me. Why else w-would he want to s-s-see my parents?"

"I can't imagine why they would expel you, none of what you did was of your own accord. The diary was forcing you to do it, and you did well to resist it for so long. I reckon it had some powerful compulsion charms on it, it isn't surprising you couldn't resist it, I doubt anybody could. And remember, even if they do expel you, I'll come with you."

She looked up at him with red, tear-stained eyes, and asked, "Do you mean that? That you'll come with me?"

"Of course. I'm never leaving you alone again." Looking at her, he surprised himself by leaning down and giving her a peck on the lips. When he pulled back, she looked surprised, but happy, which made Harry feel better as well.

* * *

In Dumbledore's office, he was having a heated discussion with Mr and Mrs Weasley. The latter was once again up and pacing. "What on earth do you mean?"

"I believe that in the chamber, by Mr Potter saving your Ms Weasley's life, a bond was formed. Having reviewed his memory of the event, I am almost certain that this bond formed, especially with what I have observed since then, but I am not certain. First I must research it some more at the ministry. Meanwhile, we must decide what to do about your daughter. The Board of Governors believes she should be expelled for her involvement. If you wish, I can make an appeal to try and keep her in Hogwarts, but it may be easier to announce her being pulled from the school before she is formally expelled in August, and try to place her in a different magical school. You have until the end of June to decide."

It was Mr Weasley who voiced the question on both their minds. "What would it mean if they do have this bond you speak of?"

"There are lots of implications, but mainly the need or urge to be in contact. You may have noticed them holding hands earlier?" Receiving nods from both Weasleys, he continued "It is actually more than that. I believe the only one who can comfort Ms Weasley at the moment is Mr Potter, to the extent that last night, the urge for contact rose, and they ended up sharing a bed." He quickly said, steeling himself for the imminent explosion from the Weasley matriarch.

"WHAT? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME MY BABY DAUGHTER WAS SHARING A BED WITH ANOTHER BOY? WHAT ON EARTH COULD POSSIBLY MAKE THIS NECESSARY? WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE? SHE'LL BE CALLED A SCARLET WOMAN..."

Another well placed silencing charm from her husband silenced her. "Now Molly I'm sure Albus has a perfectly good reason for this."

"He is quite right. It is best not to fight the need for contact, as the results could be disastrous, possibly fatal. While in Hogwarts, only we, they, and Madam Pomfrey will know. However, I suspect the need will continue, possibly until September."

"Then we'll just take Harry home with us." Arthur suggested. "He doesn't much like his relatives, I'm sure they'll be happy to be rid of him, and we can rearrange room assignments."

Dumbledore looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Unfortunately, Harry must return to Privet Drive in order to recharge the wards for his own protection."

Now it was Mr Weasley's turn to blow. "WHAT! BUT THAT MEANS SHE HAS TO..."

"Yes. She must go with him." Just as Mrs Weasley looked to do the impossible and break her silencing charm, he hastened to add, "I will do everything in my power to make sure they are treated well and looked after, and shall keep monitoring the situation. If I find the bond to not exist, she will be moved back to the Burrow. If it does exist and is completed, she will move back to the Burrow. They can both leave after Harry's birthday, but you may find it easier to leave them there so you don't have to try and keep their sharing a bed secret from the rest of the family."

This knowledge only calmed them down somewhat. "You may go back to visit them again now if you wish, and may stay in the guest suite as long as necessary. For now, I must go investigate this bond further."

As they left, he thought to himself, what a day!


	4. School Year Ends Part 2

**A/N** \- Another Chapter. I understand there may be some confusion as to how Harry and Ginny are acting for their ages, but they are twelve and thirteen, and I had some friends who dated while eleven, so it doesn't seem to unusual in my mind, especially as I consider them to have grown up quickly given their experiences. Anyway, on with the story! (Disclaimer in Chapter 1).

 **Chapter 4 - School Year Ends Part 2**

Albus Dumbledore was not in the best of moods. He'd spent the day before close to being removed from his post due to the death of a first year girl, which never happened, discovered Voldemort to have horcruxes, found that said girl could be expelled despite being innocent, dealt with her parents, and the unfortunate possibility that she may have formed a bond with the student he kept most of an eye on, one Harry Potter.

Now, he was confidently striding down a lesser used wing of the Ministry of Magic, looking for the record on all magical bonds. A few minutes later, he had found it, opened on the most recent page.

 _ **1992**_

 _ **Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley**_

 _ **Soul Bond**_

 _ **Started: 27th June 1992**_

 _ **Completed: N/A**_

That wasn't the best. It ruined most of his carefully laid plans for the famous Boy-Who-Lived, and this information was dangerous if the wrong person came across it. At least the bond wasn't completed yet, so with careful intervention, he should be able to keep them together enough to satisfy their need for closeness, while keeping them apart enough so as to prevent the bond completing before Harry's destiny.

* * *

Mrs Weasley was frustrated. Little her husband did could calm her down. "What on earth will she think? What will we tell the children? They must have some excuse for her going to stay with Harry!"

Her husband thought about that. It was a fair point. While some of Ginny's brothers may not mind her staying with Harry, he could tell others, namely Ron, would. "Maybe if we see whether Harry and Ginny can stay here when the train leaves, then portkey them to Privet Drive. The boys won't need to know till we get home, so nobody else finds out. Then they aren't in a position to go haring off to kill Harry by being overprotective."

"That might work, but I still don't like them going there alone."

"I'll ask Dumbledore if I can pop over to check on them once or twice a week, and they'll be here later in the holidays hopefully. How does that sound Molly?"

"I guess it's the best we can do under the circumstances. I'll have to make lots of food for you to take to make sure they're being fed properly."

It was at this moment that Professor Dumbledore entered. "There's the Molly I know. Always worrying that people aren't getting enough to eat."

"Albus! I didn't see you come in. How long have you been there?"

"Only a few seconds. I'm afraid I must impose upon your time a little more. The bond has indeed been started, and we must inform the two involved of the arrangements this summer."

Arthur spoke up. "I actually wanted to see you about that Albus. Would it be okay for me to apparate over there once or twice a week, just to make sure they're getting along fine with his relatives?"

"I'm sure that will be fine. Was that what Molly was on about with the food earlier? Also, we must be going soon."

"Yes, and we can come now if you wish."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the hospital wing, Harry and Ginny were curled up on their bed behind the privacy curtain, after Madam Pomfrey had given their friends strict times within which to visit and sent them away until tomorrow. Harry was once more holding Ginny close, and whispering in her ear, calming her completely. Every so often, he would lean up and place a soft kiss on the top of her head.

This was how Mr and Mrs Weasley found them when they entered with the headmaster. They stood there paralysed as they watched the children in their close embrace, before Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat. They looked up, and both blushed scarlet at being seen in their position by Ginny's parents. However neither of them made any effort to move.

Professor Dumbledore started. "Ms Weasley, your parents both know about your need for contact, and I have discovered that it is indeed necessary, however no one else should be informed of it if possible, excepting maybe Professor McGonagall."

"What do you mean, _it is necessary_?" Harry started the questioning.

"Precisely that. Yesterday, when you saved Ms Weasley's life in the chamber, a bond was formed between the two of you."

"Um, what type of bond?"

"A soul-bond. As this is generally kept private, I have very little information, and the Department of Mysteries refuses to provide me with anymore without knowing the occupant of the bond, and I believed you would want knowledge of it kept secret."

This time it was Ginny's turn to speak up, the first her parents had heard her speak since the chamber. "What does it entail?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment. _'How much information should I give them? I can avoid telling them what must happen for them to complete the bond, to try and prevent it happening, and they have no need to know the more romantic implications, but I have to give them enough for them to believe it is all I have. Also probably best for them to not know how close Ms Weasley is to being expelled.'_

He answered, "while I am not sure of much to do with the bond, I am aware that it is not yet complete. You will experience a need for close physical contact most the time. While it is possible to separate, the need will soon be overwhelming. I have no idea how long this will last, but most likely it will end when the bond is completed. Soul bonds are rare, in fact the last recorded one was in 1783, more than two centuries ago. They are also the most powerful of magical bonds. If you resist any urges it gives you for too long, it could result in death for both of you."

Mr Weasley took this moment to speak up, first muttering _silencio_ while pointing his wand at his wife. "Due to your need to stay in close contact, and Professor Dumbledore's insistence for Harry to return to Privet Drive, you, Ginny dear, will be going with him. You will remain there until the bond is completed, when we will move you to the Burrow, or school starts again."

Dumbledore, seeing Harry worried at the thought of having to go back to his relatives, headed him off. "I will be visiting your relatives tomorrow, and persuading them to treat you better than they have done in the past. Also, Arthur will be visiting once or twice each week to make sure you are okay, no doubt bringing some of Molly's excellent cooking."

Mr Weasley continued. "We will be avoiding telling the boys about you sharing a bed if possible, and they won't know where you are spending your summer until we get home. You will be staying in the hospital wing until the Hogwarts Express has left, when you will take a portkey straight to Privet Drive."

Dumbledore decided to end the discussion. "That will be all for now. We will be back to visit tomorrow within Madam Pomfrey's strict visiting hours. For now, you could do with some rest."

With that, he left the room, and led the elder Weasley's back to his office.

* * *

Mrs Weasley, having had her silencing charm removed, addressed Dumbledore. "Albus, we would like for you to try and keep Ginny in school if possible."

"I will do my best. Is that all?"

"Yes. I think we should be turning in as well."

"Goodnight then."

* * *

Back in the hospital wing, Harry turned back to Ginny. "A soul bond. What do you think of that?" He asked.

"I like it. It sounds like you're stuck with me forever." She replied quietly.

"That sounds wonderful. I can't help but think Dumbledore has started keeping things from me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know if you noticed earlier, but he kept mentioning our bond under his breath, then talked about horcruxes, whatever _they_ are, and it seemed as if he knew more than he let on about the bond. I mean, you think that the most powerful wizard in the world would be able to get some more information, even from the Department of Mysteries."

"Hmm, that is odd. I guess we'll just have to research it ourselves when we get to Privet Drive. But for now, I need to sleep. I also noticed he started calling me _Ms_ Weasley, not Miss."

With that, she curled up into Harry's side, as he pulled her back into his arms. He gave her a quick peck on the head before dropping off himself.


	5. Return to Privet Drive

**A/N** \- Thanks to everyone who has already shown their support for this story, I didn't expect it to be so popular so quickly! I feel I should point out again in response to a recent review (even though I did it in Chapter 1) that so far all these chapters have been written for a few months. I like long chapters as well, but it was only after posting I realised how short they were. So for now it will be short and frequent, but in the future it should hopefully become infrequent posting of longer chapters. Anyway, on with the chapter! (Disclaimer in Chapter 1).

 **Chapter 5 - Return to Privet Drive**

Friday morning soon came and their friends came to visit once more before boarding the Hogwarts Express. As soon as it had left, Professor Dumbledore came by once more, with an old book, presumably the portkey. They both placed their hands on it, and where at once whisked off to Number 4 Privet Drive, where they landed outside the front door.

Straight away, Aunt Petunia opened the door, and ushered them inside, all the while looking from side to side fearfully, ensuring none of the neighbours saw their arrival. Once inside, she ordered them upstairs, and informed them rather rudely that they were not to come down except for meals.

In Harry's mind, this was an improvement, he thought as they made their way up the stairs, as it suggested he wouldn't have to do the chores anymore, but Ginny was horrified that anyone could speak to him in this way. This disgust only grew when she saw his bedroom, with multiple locks on the door, that contained a cat flap, and bars on the window.

Once inside his room, she sat on his bed and pulled him down next to her. "Have they always treated you like this?"

He seemed embarrassed, as though he had done something wrong. "A lot of the time. It was worse, actually, I guess Dumbledore did manage to get through to them somewhat." He spoke quietly.

Ginny wanted to question him some more, but from the expression on his face, she decided not to push him - he was looking afraid. So instead, she let some of her well-known Weasley temper show, but not loudly enough for any of the other occupants of the house to hear.

"Dumbledore should never have left you here! I've had it with his wards! They are supposed to keep you from harm, but what about from the occupants of the house?" Ginny raged. A slight smile appeared on Harry's face. "What are you smiling for?" She knew Harry well enough to understand that he wouldn't open up to just anyone.

"You." He replied. "I've never had anyone care for me before."

"Oh Harry..." She said, hugging him, but he cut her off.

"Thank you, for caring."

"You'd do the same for me, wouldn't you?"

"You know I would."

He hugged her back, and then pulled back slightly, just enough to plant his lips gently on hers. After a moment of shock and surprise, she returned his kiss, and they sat there, locked in an embrace, until the need for air overcame them. They lay back, still hugging each other, and eventually, sleep came to both of them.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of the Weasleys had arrived at the Burrow. Mr Weasley started the inevitable conversation, although he was worried, along with his wife, as to how the kids would react.

"Boys, before you go upstairs and unpack, your mother and I need to talk to you in the kitchen."

When they had all filed in to the Burrow's undersized kitchen, Mrs Weasley started the talking. "We thought you might want to know where Ginny is going to be this summer."

"I thought she and Harry were staying at school a little longer so Madam Pomfrey could keep checking up on them?" Ron said. It was, after all, what everyone who had visited had been told.

"No, that was a cover story. We don't want anyone knowing where they are really going. But before we tell you, you must promise not to overreact. Your mother and I are perfectly happy with this." Mr Weasley took over.

Fred started "So where..."

"...Are they then?" George finished.

"They have both gone to stay with Harry's relatives." Mrs Weasley said, expecting an explosion much like that that had come from her when she had heard the news. "Given that they were the only two who saw the inside of the chamber, and best know what happened, we thought it best if they were kept together to help each other through this time, and Dumbledore insisted on Harry going to stay at his relatives." She continued, intent on forestalling the blow-up that could be seen starting on some, but not all, of the faces in front of her. Ron's and Charlie's were the most noticeable.

"What's he doing, taken advantage of our baby sister..." Ron started.

Mr Weasley placated him. "Now he's not taken advantage of her, and you know that Ginny doesn't like it when you refer to her as a baby."

The argument continued on in this vain for half an hour, but eventually Mr and Mrs Weasley managed to prevent the boys from running off to find Harry and knock his head off for even looking at their sister. It was six bedraggled and angry boys who went upstairs to unpack, as Bill and Charlie had come back home for a few weeks after they had heard about Ginny.

* * *

That evening, Harry and Ginny both headed down stairs for the inevitable disaster that would be their evening meal. Unfortunately, the Dursleys' fear of the threat that Dumbledore gave them did not drive them far enough to leave the two kids upstairs and take their meals up to them, so they didn't need to be seen at all.

Surprisingly, dinner wasn't all that bad. As usual, Harry was practically treated as if he didn't exist, but Aunt Petunia had attempted small talk with Ginny, as if her being there was nothing out of the ordinary. This was odd, especially for Aunt Petunia, as normally anything out of place would have to be gotten rid of. Clearly their method for dealing with having extra witches and wizards around meant treating them properly. It was disappointing that this did not extend to Harry.

After their meal, they were about to head upstairs when one of the news reports caught their attention. Uncle Vernon had just turned on the TV in the sitting room, and was watching with the rest of the family, when it was announced that - "Mass Murderer Sirius Black has escaped from prison. Members of the public have been warned to stay vigilant, and not approach him under any circumstances."

This news greatly bothered Ginny, and seeing her reaction, Harry pulled her upstairs and to their room. Once they were sat on the bed and the door was locked, from the inside for once, he asked her what the problem was.

"Sirius Black, he's a wizard. Mum said he was one of V-V-Voldemort's most fanatical followers. He was imprisoned early November 1981 after killing 12 muggles, and one of his best friends, Peter Pettigrew. While that is all most people will tell you, if anything, I heard Mum and Dad talking once. Apparently another of his best friends was one James Potter, and he was their secret keeper. I don't understand that though - how could someone betray one of his best friends and kill another?"

"Okay, so there's another threat out to get me, that's pretty normal." Harry replied.

"You don't understand. He was in Azkaban, the wizarding prison. It is built on an island. No one has ever escaped from it before. If he can do that, he can probably get into Hogwarts."

"Ah. I can see where that could be an issue. But there is no point worrying about it now. With these wards you seem to have found out about here he shouldn't be able to get to me, should he?"

"I guess not. But Harry, promise me you'll be careful when you go outside?"

"Okay Ginny, I promise, but now we should get to sleep, it has been a long day."

"Okay, goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight." Harry kissed her on the top of her head, and they curled up together, hugging each other, until sleep took them.


	6. A Visit to Gringotts

**A/N** \- Here's the next install,ent! Sorry about the delay in posting, a few reviews brought to my attention some things I completely ovelooked while originally writing this, so I had to go back and make some edits to this chapter. As a result, it is now twice the length of any already posted! The cost of the Knight Bus has been taken from J. K. Rowling's Prisoner Of Azkaban and doubled, as there are two of them travelling, using the number of sickles in a galleon Hagrid mentions in Philosopher's Stone. (Disclaimer in Chapter 1)

 **Chapter 6 - A Visit to Gringotts**

The next morning, Harry and Ginny woke up to find an owl tapping at their bedroom window. They barely had long enough to process that this was what they were seeing before Uncle Vernon's dulcet tones could be heard booming up the stairs. "LET THAT BLOODY CREATURE IN BEFORE THE NEIGHBOURS SEE IT! I DON'T WANT THEM THINKING SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH US!"

Harry quickly scrambled out of bed and opened the window. The owl shot him an annoyed glare, as if it had been waiting for hours (which it had), ruffled its feathers, and hopped into the room. Harry carried it over to Hedwig's cage, and let it have a drink of water and some owl treats before removing its letter. As soon as this was done, it flew off back out the open window. Hedwig also glared at him, as if it was his fault a different owl had delivered the letter and not her, before tucking her head under her wing and going back to sleep. Harry supposed that this was still preferable to her than having the cage locked for the whole summer.

He carried the letter back to the bed where Ginny was waiting and opened it. He read it aloud.

 _ **Dear Mr Potter,**_

 _ **It has come to my attention that you have formed a soul-bond with one**_ **Ms** _ **Ginevra Molly Weasley. At your earliest convenience, please could both of you attend Gringotts so that we may discuss both this and your current financial situation.**_

 _ **May your gold ever flow,**_

 _ **Ragnok**_

 _ **Senior Manager, Gringotts Bank**_

They sat there in silence for a moment, then Harry asked: "How did he know about our soul-bond? That information is private!"

"Does it matter? Maybe he'll know about it and tell us more than Dumbledore would let on."

"That is possible. And what does he mean about my financial situation?"

"I have no idea. Maybe something happened with your account? Although it is strange that Ragnok would contact you."

"Why?"

"He's the senior manager of Gringotts. That basically means that he is leader of the Goblin Nation."

"Oh! I really need to read more, find out about the wizarding world. But don't ever let Hermione know I said that."

"Can you imagine what she'd be like? She'd constantly harp over you to study even more than she does already." Ginny replied, laughing. Then she turned more serious. "Actually, speaking of Hermione, what are we going to tell her? The rest of my family know that I'm staying here with you. Should she know too?"

"I guess it's something we'll have to think about. I'm not sure she needs to know right now, so it can wait until we have more time to think about it. Or the new school year for that matter." Harry replied.

After getting out of bed once again, and heading over to the wardrobe, he threw a set of clothes at Ginny and removed one himself. As he returned to the bed to take Ginny's hand again, he continued, "Well, I guess we better find out what this is about. We'll head over later today. But for now, we should really head down for breakfast. The Dursleys may be treating us better, but if we are not there in time for the meals, they'll not leave anything for us."

"Okay, just let me go get changed first."

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was worried. He knew now that Lord Voldermort created a horcrux. Knowing Tom like he did, one would never be enough. He would make more than that, and possibly take other precautions as well. The thing was, what would he deem appropriate as containers to hide pieces of his soul, and where would he keep them, not to mention how many were there? It was going to be very difficult ensuring he had all of them.

And then there was the matter of Harry Potter's soul-bond. This wouldn't do. So long as he prevented it from completing it would be okay, but that just needed an act of love. He was pretty sure that Harry didn't understand love, and Ginny was just too young.

Once Harry returned to school, there were many methods he could employ to redirect the student's attention away from Ginny, such as a love potion. However, this could not be started while he was at Privet Drive, as he wasn't sure whether his own wards would prevent him from doing it. He didn't know whether it would be deemed as intending to bring harm to the recipient, and he definitely didn't want to test it out. Albus Dumbledore hated not knowing something, and now two things existed that he didn't know about.

He did briefly debate the idea of not trying to keep Ginny in school, but that could cause all manner of problems. Particularly if Molly found out that he had after she had expressly asked him to try. He did not want to be on the wrong end of her temper.

He also debated the idea of claiming the bond to be completed already in order to move Ginny back to the Burrow and away from Harry before anything could happen, but even that could have unwanted repercussions, as no-one knew what happened if a soul-bond, once started, went uncompleted for more than two-months. It wouldn't be any better if the Boy-Who-Lived were to die before reaching his third year.

All that could be done was await Harry's return to Hogwarts. In the meantime, he would have to keep watch on the instrument on his desk, which would activate when Harry's bond was completed, hoping it wouldn't do so, and find the remaining horcruxes.

* * *

Just after lunch, Harry and Ginny were walking down Whisteria Walk, making sure they were a long distance from Privet Drive. Harry had informed Aunt Petunia that they were going out, and wouldn't be back till dinner, but there was no point tempting the devil by calling for the Knight Bus in Privet Drive.

It was Ginny who had come up with this method of transport. There was no floo nearby, and Harry hated it anyway, and they couldn't apparate without keeping the trip a secret, even if one of them did know how to. Mr Weasley had told them he wouldn't be visiting until the day after, so they just needed to be discreet in their journey. This was the solution. Ginny had heard her parents mention it, and while never having used it herself, knew the basics for calling it.

When they were what they deemed a reasonable distance away, Harry stuck out his wand hand. Immediately, the Knight Bus rolled up. The conductor started speaking, reading a little card held in his hand.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, essential transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name's Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this journey. Where is it yer goin'?" He asked as he looked up

Harry spoke. "Diagon Alley."

"One Galleon and five Sickles then please."

Harry handed the money over, and they climbed on board. "You're the on'y passengers at the moment, so it'll be ten minutes." The only reason he hadn't seen who they were and commented on it was because they had worn clothing that disguised their appearance, including hoods.

Stan returned to the front of the bus to talk to the driver, who it sounded like was called Ernie, while Harry and Ginny headed to the top of the three floors, and took seats at the front. As the bus was empty, they had their choice of seats, and these were the best for discussing things in private. Harry started, "I was thinking some more last night..."

"Oh, what about?"

"Sirius Black. And I had a thought." He said questioningly, almost hoping that Ginny would agree.

"A thought? That's dangerous. Should you really be doing all that thinking on your own?"

"Haha, very funny." Harry replied, lightly bumping her shoulder, but she could tell he didn't really mean it, as he was glad she was regaining her playful nature now they were back at ' _home_ '.

"I thought it was." She replied cheekily with a grin. "So what was your thought?"

"I just feel that if Black betrayed my parents, shouldn't there be some record of it. And how did he betray them. It wasn't like only he knew their location was it? I don't really know what a 'secret keeper' is."

"Neither do I. It has something to do with a charm I think. Maybe we can ask Ragnok."

"That's a good idea!" Harry exclaimed.

"I know, I came up with it!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and changed into some robes, pulled up over their heads. Quickly making their way to Gringotts, they entered and lined up to wait for one of the tellers. When they reached him, they asked to meet Ragnok.

"Slitok, please takes Mr Potter and his companion to waiting room 3."

"How did you know it was me?"

"It is our business to know. Next!"

They followed Slitok to the waiting room. After sitting on the sofa for several minutes, once more holding hands, although the urge was oddly no longer present, an important looking goblin entered.

"Good afternoon Mr Potter, Ms Weasley, I am Ragnok. If you follow me to my office, we can discuss things in private."

In Ragnok's office, Harry started.

"How did you know about our bond? It is a closely kept secret."

Wordlessly, Ragnok passed a sheet of parchment.

 _ **1992**_

 _ **Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley**_

 _ **Soul Bond**_

 _ **Started: 27th June 1992**_

 _ **Completed: 1st July 1992**_

"The Ministry of Magic is not the only place that keeps such a record. They only check it once a century, and it was last checked in 1985, so no-one should know for a while. This one is personally for me, and I am the only one who can see it. I keep more up to date with it than the Ministry." He said with a wry grin in response to the unanswered question.

"Do you know anything about our bond?" Harry asked next. "All Dumbledore really knew was the need to stay in contact until it completed, but we suspect he knew more than that."

"We at Gringotts are more adept at retrieving information when we need it, even from the Department of Mysteries. As you see here, the bond has now completed. This usually happens through an act of love. Any idea how this happened?"

Ginny spoke up, blushing wildly. "Well, we kissed yesterday afternoon."

"Excellent! You may not immediately notice, but your love for each other is the strongest I have ever encountered. That is the only way the bond could have formed in the first place. This next part may worry you, but with what I have just said should make sense. In effect, and in all magical records, you are now married."

"Married?" Ginny squeaked.

Harry was worried. What if Ginny didn't want to be married to him? "Gin, are you okay?"

"Oh, yes Harry. I didn't mean to worry you. I quite like the idea. You are mine and I am yours. We now have a permanent reminder of that fact. It was just a shock."

"Okay. I like it too."

"What more do I know? Yes, because of this recent change in both of your status's, you now afford full majority rights. The trace has been removed, so you can do magic whenever you want. You could even learn to apparate legally, but if the bond is to be kept secret that isn't a good idea. It is probably important to note that although you are married on magical records, any at Hogwarts can't be updated once the student has attended their first year. This means they won't update. Also, you now have full access to your finances. We will get to that in a minute."

Harry was shocked to say the least. It was a lot to take in. "Anything else?"

"Yes. The bond prevents anything from coming in the way of your love for each other. This means, for example, that love potions won't work on you. Also, I believe you currently sleep in the same bed to maintain contact?"

Receiving a pair of nods he continued. "Professor Dumbledore currently has an instrument monitoring your bond to inform him when it is completed. This is so he can move you, Mrs Potter, back to the Burrow. Presumably you don't want that separation?"

Vicious shaking of the head. "Then the instrument will not activate, as it would come between your love. I suggest you keep the completion of the bond secret. Eventually Dumbledore will go to check it at the Ministry, but probably only on the first of September, when you return to school. He will not understand why the instrument did not go off. Also, I believe he was tracing your location. I have taken the liberty of removing this from you, and protected you both from any future traces."

"Thank you Ragnok. Why would he do that?"

"There is a prophecy about you. I don't know what it contains, but your parents did, and also Dumbledore. I believe he wants to mould you to a specific image."

"You mentioned my finances?"

"Yes. Due to your recent marriage, both of you have access to the following vaults. Your trust vault, which you pay for school from, the Potter Family Vault, which I guess Dumbledore failed to inform you of?"

"He did." Harry confirmed.

"Then he is no longer account manager for you. Also, as the Potters are descended from him, the Gryffindor Vault. Only a true heir can open it."

"I'm the heir of Gryffindor?"

"Yes. If you wish we can visit the vaults now?"

"Just a few questions. If I were to want to find out anything about the vaults, who would I go to?"

"I have taken the liberty of becoming your account manager."

"Thank you. Also, would it be possible for you to look into some things for us. We would pay you for your time of course."

"I would like to help my customers in any way possible. What can I do for you?"

"I would like to know more about Sirius Black. I heard he was a friend of my father's and can't see how he could betray him like that. I believe it is possible for him to be innocent. I know he was my parent's secret keeper but I don't really know what that is."

"This is a serious suggestion. I can explain the secret keeper concept to you next time we meet, but we don't have the time currently. Anything else?"

"I would like to know if my parents left a will. I want to hear it and ensure it was carried out properly."

"I presume specifically anything entailing Dumbledore?"

"Correct."

"I will look into it."

"Also, I would like for you to find information about horcruxes."

"May I ask why you want to know about dark magic?"

"We believe Voldemort may have made some."

"So he never really died?"

"I don"t believe so."

"I will look into it."

"Can we see the vaults now, my family one first?"

"Certainly"

* * *

After a long cart ride to the bowels of Gringotts which left Harry and Ginny very shaken, although Ginny enjoyed it immensely, Ragnok headed to and opened vault 021. As Harry stepped in, he stopped with shock. A huge cavern was piled high with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts as far as the eye could see. Near the door, a pedastal holding a letter stood. Harry picked it up.

"I'll have to return another day to look through all this, as I'm on a deadline. Can we see Gryffindor's vault now."

"Certainly. However, I warn you that the last person to enter was Godric Gryffindor himself. Not even a goblin has been in since."

"We can try."

* * *

An extremely short cart ride later, and they had reached vault 003. "Put your hand on the door. It will only open for a true heir." Ragnok said.

Harry stepped forward, and placed his hand on the door, not expecting anything to happen. Suddenly, the door creaked inwards, sounding as if it needed a good oil. The cavern behind it was full to bursting, and at least ten times the size of his family vault. Ginny gasped at what she saw. Once again, pedestal holding a letter stood near the door. Picking it up, Harry turned to Ragnok and said, "We need to leave now. Is there a way we can get here quickly when we need to? This morning we used the Knight Bus, but it is expensive and we run this risk of being recognized."

Ragnok moved to the back of the vault. "I may have never been in here before, but I am sure of what these items are. Ah yes, these necklaces. Instant portkeys. If you see the discs hanging from them, and the runes? Each rune can be tuned to a different location. Currently this one," he pointed at the rune in the 12o'clock position, "is set to 'home', or Potter Manor, this one," he now started working clockwise, "is set to take you to the other necklace, and this third one takes you to a location in Hogwarts. It is possible this letter tells you. I have now set the fourth to the Leaky Cauldron and the fifth to my office. You are welcome anytime. Also, any message sent by owl to me will not be possible to intercept. It will be guarded by Goblin magic."

"Thank you Ragnok, you are most kind. If you don't mind, could you set the next rune to Number 4 Privet Drive?"

"It is done."

"You mentioned Potter Manor. Is it possible to return sometime in the near future to talk about my inheritance?"

"When I find the will of your parents would be best."

"Then we will test these portkeys out and go home now. May your gold ever flow, Ragnok."

"May your gold ever flow, Mr and Mrs Potter."

Using the portkeys, they popped out of existence and into their bedroom at Privet Drive, just as Aunt Petunia called for dinner.

"We'll discuss everything in the morning", Harry told Ginny, as they headed downstairs.


	7. The Secrets of a Meddlesome Old Fool

**A/N** \- Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I spent a long time going over it trying to slow down Harry and Ginny's relationship slightly while not doing anything to change the overall storyline I have in mind, as some reviewers have pointed out that I am rushing them into a relationship too fast, even for a fanfiction. I think I have been successful, and in doing so, added some more into the story, so it is another longer chapter, the longest yet! Then, having finished my edits and proof-read it, I started having problems uploading it to the site so it could be published. Hopefully, it is all resolved now, and I hope you enjoy - the next chapter should come a bit faster! (Disclaimer in first chapter) Anyway, here's the chapter!

 **Chapter 7 - The Secrets of a Meddlesome Old Fool**

The next morning, Harry and Ginny were up early, having made themselves an early breakfast and left some for the Dursleys, awaiting Mr Weasley's arrival.

Soon, they heard a knock at the front door. Not wishing for Aunt Petunia to answer it, they went themselves, hoping to avoid the inevitable conversation about "ingenious muggle contraptions", which would be sure to set the Dursleys off and try to kick Mr Weasley out of the house.

"Good morning Mr Weasley." Harry started. They showed him to their room.

When they arrived, Mr Weasley looked around and frowned. "They expected you to live in here?" He asked. Receiving a hesitant nod, he continued "This won't do at all." He removed his wand from his pocket and started waving it about. Soon the locks were removed from the door, the room was three times the size, and the bed was enlarged to be queen-size. He also transformed some of Dudley's old toys in the corner into better furniture for the room, including a wizard radio, and others simply disappeared.

"To your shed?" Ginny asked with a smirk. This made Mr Weasley look decidedly uncomfortable.

"Yes, well, don't tell you're mother." He replied quietly.

He also conjured two sofas for them to use. Once they had sat down, he addressed Harry. "So, are the relatives treating you well?"

"Better than they used to. They mostly just ignore us."

"That's good. Are you getting fed?"

"Not as much as we are at the Burrow, but enough." Ginny replied.

"Then it was a good thing your mother insisted I brought this basket of food." He waved his wand and a basket jam-packed full of food appeared. Harry placed it beside his newly expanded bed. "Now, is there anything else you want to know?"

"I was wondering," Harry started tentatively, "if you knew anything about Sirius Black?"

"How do you know about him" Mr Weasley asked sharply.

"He made an appearance on the muggle news. Ginny told me what she knew about him, but I want to know why he was so dangerous that he was in Azkaban in the first place, and now the muggles need warning about him."

"I'm sorry Harry, but the ministry are restricting all information for the time being. I'm as much in the proverbial dark as you are right now. But if I find anything out, I'll endeavour to tell you both."

"Thank you."

The conversation continued for about half an hour, when Mr Weasley took his leave.

* * *

At the Burrow, Ron was angry. Actually, that was an understatement, he was fuming. No matter what his parents and brothers said, he just knew that Harry was taking advantage of Ginny.

This was too much. They were best friends and best friends don't date each others younger sisters. Ginny was much too young to be dating anybody in his mind, and if anyone it should definitely not be Harry.

He didn't know where this dislike for his friend came from all of a sudden, as the rest of the family seemed to think him perfect for Ginny. But now he had had a few days to mull it over (he had barely left his room since he had found out where Ginny was), he realised what was happening. He was jealous. Jealous that he would no longer be the first person Harry went to for advice. Jealous that he would split his time between Ron and Ginny. Jealous that someone else had taken his place as the most important person in Harry's life.

However, Ron's ego couldn't take being bruised by the realisation of such strong jealousy, so he tried to hide it from himself. This resulted in him lying on his bed some more, trying to find some other reason for his growing hatred for his former best friend. He didn't even consider doing anything else, he had lost any chance of limited amusement in his room when Scabbers had disappeared from his cage on the train home. But that couldn't be important, if anything he might be able to persuade his parents for a new, more useful pet.

* * *

That afternoon, Harry and Ginny were lounging in their room. It was too hot to do that much. Mr Weasley had forgone vanishing the sofa, insisting that they "must have somewhere to sit".

Suddenly, an unknown owl pecked at the window. Upon closer inspection, Harry realised that it was a Hogwarts Owl. He scrambled to let it in, before Uncle Vernon started yelling again about what the neighbours would say.

After removing both the letters from it's leg, he carried it over to Hedwig's cage, the only object in the room which had remained unchanged from Mr Weasley's conversion, as it still had to be liftable.

Returning to the sofa where he had been sitting with Ginny curled in his lap, he sat beside her and handed her one of the letters. They were addressed to each of them. Deciding to start with Harry's, they broke the Hogwarts Crest seal and opened it.

 _ **Dear Mr Potter,**_

 _ **I am aware that you have had a rather trying end to the school year, but that doesn't change the fact that you must choose which new subjects to study in third year. If you could please send the return parchment by the end of next week so I can sort the timetables that would be most helpful.**_

 _ **Hope you are enjoying your summer,**_

 _ **Professor Minerva McGonagall  
**_ _ **Deputy Headmistress  
**_ _ **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

 _ **Return Slip  
**_ _ **Select your new subjects for third year by ticking next to them.  
**_ _ **Remember you must choose a minimum of two and maximum of three.  
**_ _ **Return to Professor McGonagall.**_

 _ **Choices for Mr Harry James Potter:  
**_ _ **Divination  
Care of Magical Creatures  
Arithmancy  
Ancient Runes  
Muggle Studies**_

Harry was shocked. He had forgotten all about choosing his subjects for the next year. Laying his letter aside, he motioned for Ginny to open hers. She read it out loud.

 _ **Dear Miss Weasley,**_

 _ **It is my pleasure to inform you that after a large amount of deliberation, (and a lot of input from myself), the Hogwarts Board of Governors has decided that you will not be expelled from Hogwarts as there is evidence of compulsion charms on the diary so strong that most sixth years wouldn't be able to resist them for as long as you did.**_

 _ **Also, having shown the Board of Governors your grades, as another attempt to keep them from expelling you, they have decided that you are doing so well in the core classes that you should be able to manage moving up a year. This would place you in third year come September. Let it be known that this has only been done once before, and by the end of the first term the student asked to be moved back down.**_

 _ **If you would wish to take this exciting opportunity, just return the slip attached to the other letter by the end of next week.**_

 _ **Sincerely,**_

 _ **Professor Albus Dumbledore**_

 _ **Headmaster**_

 _ **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

She moved to the next letter.

 ** _Dear Miss Weasley,_**

 ** _I have just been made aware that you have the option of moving up a year. This is a wonderful opportunity but I caution you to think through whether you are certain you can keep up with your studies. On a personal note, I believe your grades could get to the point where they are higher than even Miss Granger's. If you wish to take this exciting opportunity, please fill out and send the return parchment to me by no later than the end of next week, otherwise you will remain in second year._**

 ** _Hope you are enjoying your summer,_**

 ** _Professor Minerva McGonagall  
_** ** _Deputy Headmistress  
_** ** _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_**

 ** _Return Slip  
_** ** _Select your new subjects for third year by ticking next to them.  
_** ** _Remember you must choose a minimum of two and maximum of three.  
_** ** _Return to Professor McGonagall._**

 ** _Choices for Miss Ginevra Molly Weasley:  
_** ** _Divination  
Care of Magical Creatures  
Arithmancy  
Ancient Runes  
Muggle Studies_**

"Well that is a surprise." Ginny commented.

"I told you they wouldn't expel you." Harry replied. "But to be moved up a year, and only the second student ever... And beating Hermione! I can't wait to see that!"

"But you always make fun of Hermione for getting near perfect grades." Ginny said, doubtfully.

"Ah no, we make fun of Hermione because she gets those grades from spending her life with her nose in a book." Harry corrected. "You know she can perfectly quote Hogwarts: A History now? You would get those grades from naturally being smart. That's completely different, and a lot better. Are you going to move up a year?"

"Of course I am, it means I get to spend more time with you!" She said quickly, before realising what she had said and blushing.

Harry pulled her onto his lap. "I'd love to spend more time with my wife." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver. It was strangely pleasurable to each of them to call each other husband and wife, even though it could only be done in private. "So what choices are we going to take? I know Ron was thinking of Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, and Hermione wanted to do all of them."

"I can't stand Divination, it all seems made up to me. Care of Magical Creatures sounds fun though."

"I really don't like the idea of Muggle Studies. Living here was good enough."

"Yeah. And we don't want me turning into Dad now. Maybe you could teach me a bit about muggles. More what I need to know, rather than a syllabus for an exam."

"I guess I could do that, but I'm not that great of a teacher. So it's between Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."

"Is there an easy way to decide? I guess we could just do both."

"I wouldn't mind that. We would have less free periods, but in all our classes we could work together."

"I like the sound of that. Is it settled then?" Receiving a nod she continued. "So Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures."

After ticking their choices, they folded their pieces of parchment into two separate envelopes, addressed them to Professor McGonagall, and tied them to Hedwig's leg, who shot a grateful glance that she was finally being used to send a message. With that done, Harry sat back on the sofa, and Ginny curled back up in his lap, giving him a quick kiss, before they just sat there hugging each other, revelling in the warmth that was the other's love for them.

* * *

Dumbledore was frustrated. While he had been forced to try his hardest to prevent Ginny being expelled, he had never expected her to be moved up a year. Now she would spend even more time with Harry, making it harder to keep them apart.

He had a small glimmer of hope that she would refuse the offer, but knew in his heart that like all Weasleys, she liked a fight, and that would be the easy way out.

Oh well. There was still nothing more he could do until September. He didn't know whether he wanted his gadget to activate or not. It doing so would mean he could separate Harry and Ginny, but also mean that they had completed their bond, making it harder to break them up. However, if it didn't activate and Ginny didn't end up at the Burrow this summer, he would have a very angry Molly Weasley on his hands, and Harry and Ginny would stay together until school.

The longer they stayed together, the less likely it was any form of love potion or compulsion charm would work on them, but it wouldn't do any good to harm the boy by splitting them up now.

He looked over to Fawkes, who trilled a mournful tune before bursting into flame and disappearing. 'Strange' he thought, 'He's been doing more and more of that lately.'

Another thought then came to him. 'The prophecy!' He risked a glance over at his pensieve, but neglected to watch it. 'No, it must have been speaking of me at the boy's side. I must be the one to love him. Ms Weasley cannot be left in the current position she is holding.'

It was so difficult making decisions for the Greater Good.

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Ginny decided to discuss what they had started in the Hospital Wing at the end of term. But first, they started by reading the letters Harry had been left. He began with the one from his family vault.

 ** _Dear Harry,_**

 ** _James wanted to write to you but we have little time, so I'll pass on what I reckon he would say. Probably it would be, "Have fun, play Quidditch, continue the marauder's pranking legacy, and chase some girls." While I don't entirely agree with this some of it has merit._**

 ** _I want you to know that we went into hiding because of a prophecy about you. We love you so much that we would do anything to protect you. When Dumbledore came to us with the prophecy, we were terrified. If you are reading this letter, it probably means that we died. I can only hope it was protecting you, my son._**

 ** _I feel that you should know the entire prophecy, but only after you start Hogwarts. If that is not yet, then skip this part._**

 _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

 ** _I never set much in store for Divination, but I believe that this means only you can truly defeat him. Apparently Voldemort heard the first two lines. However, and I would never tell James this, I don't trust Dumbledore. While I believe he will tell you this, I don't think the same about the rest of the prophecy._**

 _"And with those who love him most by his side... He will rise by the light or fall further than any before... But only with this love will he prevail, and without it all is most certainly lost... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born as the seventh month dies..."_

 ** _While this certainly worries me, I trust in you to do the right thing. I believe that Dumbledore has overstayed his welcome in Hogwarts, and if you are, as I believe, Godric's true heir, you can remove him, but most likely you wish to keep this a secret._**

 ** _Most importantly, whilst this is a dangerous mission, you will most definitely not succeed if you push those who love you truthfully away for their safety. Only with you are they safest. Please son, one thing for me, keep them closest to you._**

 ** _I'm almost out of time. This part should be read by the one who captures your heart. I do hope you find true love early, as that will make this job easier. Don't read it yourself._**

 ** _Whoever captured my son's heart, you must be pretty special. I would have liked to get to know you, and am sure we would have got on wonderfully. I am sorry it was not to be. Please love my son wholly, where myself and James could not, don't be afraid to put him in his place if he is as stubborn as his father, and don't let him push you away out of safety. He needs you. I trust him to make the right choice in the prophecy, whichever way that is. I do not believe there to be a right or wrong. Thank you for giving my son the happiness he so deserves. I hope for lots of grandchildren one day!_**

 ** _I must finish this here. James says "find the Marauder's Map, tap it with your wand and cast 'Potter Revelio'". Not sure what he means. But remember, be sure to have fun - a few pranks never went amiss in Hogwarts and I'm sure they would help to keep a certain meddlesome fool off your back!_**

 ** _We love you with all our hearts,_**

 ** _James and Lily Potter_**

Harry finished reading aloud with tears in his eyes. When he got to the bit for his true love, he had handed it to Ginny, who had gone against Lily's wishes and read it aloud for Harry to hear. They both blushed at the mention of children. Replacing it in the envelope, he found a picture left there. It was of his parents, Sirius Black and two other men sitting around laughing, with baby Harry in the middle. As the picture moved, Sirius could be seen giving Harry a toy broomstick, and a banner saying "Happy 1st Birthday" could be spotted.

Ginny pointed out one of the men as Peter Pettigrew, but didn't know who the other was.

When Harry got his emotions under control, he haltingly started. "It almost sounds as if she feels the same as us, Dumbledore is being manipulative. She doesn't seem to like him. And what's this about a prophecy?"

"I don't know, but if it came from Dumbledore then it may be made up. We should tell Ragnok we need to verify a prophecy, he may be able to find out how."

"Okay, I'll put that in our letter. Now I need to read Gryffindor's."

 _ **To my true heir.**_

 _ **You will be the first being ever to enter my vault after my death, the charms are so complicated. I wish you to know that I have forseen you battling a dark wizard, but have no idea who, or what the outcome will be - I am not a seer by any means, I just know that this will happen. Be careful.**_

 _ **If Hogwarts is causing issues, I believe you need training. On the fourth floor opposite the portrait of the opera-singing cows, you will find a door. Only you will be able to enter, and those you allow. I suggest you keep this to a minimum. This is Godric's study, it contains a portrait of me you can use to speak with me in detail.**_

 _ **When you find your mate, take her there, and we will talk. Until then,**_

 _ **Godric Gryffindor**_

"Seems like we'll have to explore that room when we get back to Hogwarts." Harry said.

"We?"

"Yes. Are you or are you not my true mate?"

"We're married, but I have no idea if I'm your true mate."

"Well when we get back to Hogwarts, we'll just have to find out what the room thinks, won't we?" Harry replied with a cheeky grin.

She pulled his head down to hers, and crashed her lips against his. For Ginny, there really was no more need to consider it, she believed what Harry was telling her, but she wanted to make sure he felt the same way and wasn't just saying it. So they sat there for most of an hour, kissing, getting slightly more heated than it had before then. Harry brought one hand up to stroke her long soft red hair, and the other wrapped around her waist, just sneaking under her shirt to find purchase on her bare skin. She gasped, and pulled him closer to her, running her hands through his messy black hair. He was intoxicating, she couldn't get enough of him, and she knew it was the same for him. Reluctantly, he pulled away.

"Gin," he started, panting raggedly, "As much as I love this, we need to stop. I don't think either of us are ready to go any further, I mean, I'm only twelve, and you're eleven. I promise if you want to we will, in the future, but we are both too young now to continue."

She nodded her head. Unable to say anything in return to that after their heated kissing session, she settled herself on his lap, and his arms went immediately around her. He spent the next hour engrossed entirely in the redhead on his lap, stroking her hair and stealing gentle kisses when possible, as well as giving her pecks on the head. Meanwhile, she was busy marvelling at him, running her small hands through his hair, not at all complaining about how he was spending the day. They were so interested in each other instead of the world around them they completely missed lunch.

Eventually, they both tired, and laying back, fell asleep in each others arms.

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Ginny decided to take a trip to the park. After getting a quick breakfast for themselves, they once again snuck out of the house before any of his relatives even woke up.

"Come on, I want to show you everything!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, pulling Ginny along quickly by her hand. She just followed slightly calmer, but happy that Harry seemed to be enjoying himself, something she didn't think he got much of before at Privet Drive.

Eventually, Harry slowed to a normal walking pace as they got close to the park, and Ginny could see all the muggle play equipment over near one fence, in an enclosed area. But Harry headed away from it, towards a small copse of trees the other side of a large field with some strange white lines on it. He entered the trees, and continued until he found a small hollowed out area of the inside of a bush under one of the larger trees. The bush was so thick with leaves that if someone sitting silently inside wouldn't be seen by anyone walking past.

Finally letting go of Ginny's hand, he dropped to his knees and crawled through a small gap in the branches into the bush. Then, holding open the branches to give her some room, he gestured to Ginny to join him. Once she entered the bush as well, he let the branches close and they both sat cross-legged, knees touching, facing each other.

Eventually, Harry started talking, quietly. "This was where I came whenever my cousin and his gang decided to go 'Harry-hunting'. I'd crawl in here and curl up to hide for hours at a time since I was six, and hollowed it out. It's started to get more overgrown now as I'm not here most the year so don't use it as much, but it's still effective."

Tears entered Ginny's eyes as she thought about all the wrongs he'd suffered as a child, things no-one, least of all someone his age, should ever have to suffer. She vowed that he'd never have to experience anything like that again if she had anything to do with it. As much as she wanted to know more about his life before Hogwarts, she decided that getting him to think more about it now would be a bad idea. Instead, she tried to distract him.

"Can we go back out to the park? I've never really been to a muggle park before- we don't have one in Ottery St. Catchpole, it's to small a village. You could push me on the swings!" She added cheekily, trying not to let it show just how much it hurt to hear about his former life. She didn't want him to decide not to tell her anymore to spare her hearing about it.

They returned out to the park, and took turns on the slide, as well as pushing each other on the swings. They were for once able to act as the kids they were.

* * *

As they returned to the house, Harry suddenly noticed something scuttle behind a bush quickly. From years of learning not to make any noise, he snuck after it, catching up to it very quickly and grabbing it. "It's a rat!" Ginny heard him exclaim. He quickly returned to her side. "What's a rat doing here? I've never seen one in Little Whinging before." He continued.

As Ginny got a good look at the rat, she realised something very important. It was missing a toe. "It's Scabbers! Look, he's missing a toe, the same one as Scabbers is missing!" She exclaimed. "I wonder why Scabbers is here?"

"Never mind that." Harry replied. We need to get back home. As much as they hate me, they'll be expecting us back soon. We can put him in Hedwig's cage, while she hunts tonight. Your dad is coming tomorrow, we can talk to him then."

With that decided, they hurried back to number 4 Privet Drive, and locked Scabbers inside Hedwig's cage, letting her out to hunt for the night, before hurrying downstairs to eat, then back up to sleep.


	8. Ragnok's Discoveries

**A/N** \- Here's the next installment of Repercussions of the Chamber, once again recently edited and so slightly longer than the first few chapters. We are now getting to the end of what I already had pre-written, so nothing is set in stone. Any suggestions are welcomed as a review, so please post one if there is something you want to see from this story and I will consider it. There are a few things I will not consider, and those should go on my profile page soon. I have no idea if the Will in this chapter is anywhere close to accurate, as a teenage I've never needed to know about them before. I tried to make the bequests accurate given the exchange rate 1 galleon = 5GBP, but am unsure if I have succeeded. I don't know how wealthy the Potter family is, I tried to make it realistic but after an hour searching the internet was unable to find an official source. I mkae come back to change it at a future date. (Disclaimer in chapter 1)

 **Chapter 8 - Ragnok's Discoveries**

It was the last week of July. Mr Weasley had been making regular visits to Privet Drive, each time bringing a hamper full of food from Mrs Weasley. By this point he was visiting less frequently, as nothing seemed to be changing with the muggles.

One early Thursday morning, Harry was lying awake in his bed. Something didn't seem right about Scabbers. For a start, what had he been doing around Little Whinging, and secondly, how had he got there? Harry specifically considered the questions in that order - after all, with what had already happened to him since joining the Wizarding World, he had come to learn that everything had its reasons for happening, as bad as they may be. The how no longer seemed as important as the why.

He thought back to what had happened the morning after they had found Scabbers...

* * *

 _Mr Weasley had arrived as normal that morning, and Harry and Ginny had led him up to their room. They all sat down on the sofa. After asking the normal questions about how the Dursleys were treating them (they were still mostly being ignored, but that was fine - they were happy to either get up to eat breakfast and make a lunch to take with them to the park before the Dursleys, or wait until it was only Aunt Petunia left in the house, who allowed them access to the kitchen as long as it was left exactly as they found it), and what they had found to do (they spent most days exploring the park), he suddenly seemed to notice that the occupant to the cage across the room was not an owl as it should have been, but was in fact a rat._

 _"Hello, what's a rat doing in Hedwig's cage? I didn't think she normally brought creatures back from her hunting?" Mr Weasley asked. It was true, Harry had never once seen the results of Hedwig's hunt, it had always been devoured before she returned to her cage, and the Weasleys would know this. After all, he'd practically lived at the Burrow the previous summer._

 _"Um, we wanted to talk about that you see." Harry started cautiously. "We found him in the park yesterday."_

 _Ginny continued. "I noticed his missing toe. It's the same one Scabbers has been missing ever since Percy found him. It looks so much like Scabbers, and we didn't know how or why he was in Little Whinging. We decided to bring him back here to ask you." She said nervously._

 _"Well," Mr Weasley looked thoughtful. "Ron did say that Scabbers has been missing since the train ride home, but I don't see how he could have got here. Let's have a look at him." He got up and headed to the cage, and unlocking it, drew Scabbers out. "It certainly looks like Scabbers. Ron and Percy would know best." He quickly transfigured one of the used plates that had held food in the basket Mrs. Weasley had given him to bring into a travelling cage (transfigured items always lasted longer than those conjured), and dropped Scabbers inside before locking it._

 _"I'll take him back to the Burrow. If Ron and Percy recognise him, then we'll assume he is Scabbers. If not, I'll let him go. But it does seem a startling coincidence for two rats that look similar to be missing the same toe."_

 _Shortly after that, he left for the Burrow, taking the empty basket and Scabbers in his new cage with him. Harry and Ginny hadn't thought any more of it at the time, especially after he had brought news the next time he visited that Ron and Percy had positively identified him. After all, what reason would any of them have had to be suspicious?_

* * *

Suddenly, his eyes opened - he must have fallen asleep while considering what felt so wrong about how they had found Scabbers. It was only now that he had begun to realise that while at the time nothing had seemed overly suspicious about finding Scabbers at the park - he was notorious for escaping and travelling long distances in short amounts of time - he was beginning to realise just what a coincidence it was that he had showed up in the exact area that Harry lived in. But he could consider all that implied later, as looking down, he noticed his wife's long red hair splayed out across his bare chest (it was much too hot for them to wear full pyjamas, so he often went to be in just his pyjama bottoms), and he tightened his hold on her. She stirred sleepily, but didn't wake up.

Looking up, he noticed what had awoken him so suddenly that morning, (usually they slept completely past lunch). An owl was pecking at the window. He thought it lucky that Uncle Vernon was still asleep, as he could only imagine what he would be screaming about the neighbours. Lifting the arm that was not preoccupied with the redheaded girl next to him, he grabbed his wand and muttered the spell for the levitation charm to open the window. The owl flew inside, then hopped over to him to provide the letter.

When Harry retrieved the letter, the owl sipped a drink from Hedwig's bowl, then flew back out the window. He noticed an official Gringotts seal on the letter. Waking his Ginny up - they loved thinking of themselves as each others - he opened the letter. She continued laying on him as he read it aloud.

 _ **Dear Mr and Mrs Potter,**_

 _ **I have made some progress on the leads you have asked me to pick up on.**_

 _ **While I have not yet found anything of importance about horcruxes or Mr Black, I have uncovered the Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter.**_

 _ **If it is possible, I wish for you to visit Gringotts at some point in the near future for an official reading. I will be waiting for you if you use your portkeys whenever is convenient to you.**_

 _ **Also, this would be an excellent opportunity for you to visit your vaults and us to discuss your inheritance.**_

 _ **May your gold ever flow,**_

 _ **Ragnok**_

 _ **Senior Manager, Gringotts Bank**_

Harry looked to Ginny. "I wasn't expecting him to find it so fast. I would have thought Dumbledore would try to keep it hidden."

"Let's get dressed and have breakfast, then we can head over and spend the whole day over there.

* * *

Soon, Harry and Ginny each activated the fifth rune on their necklace portkeys, and appeared in Ragnok's office. He greeted them warmly.

"Should we start then?" He asked when they were seated.

"Okay." Harry replied.

"Let us begin the official reading of the Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter."

He waved a finger in a large bowl of silvery liquid and two figures arose. The male spoke.

 _"Let it be recorded that this, the Last Will and Testament of Lily and James Potter was made while we were of sound mind and soul. We hereby declare any previous wills null and void from this moment so that this, the current will, is the only document in effect._

 _Should only one of us die, everything later named in this will is instead left to our husband/wife._

 _Should both of us die, we bequest:_

 _To Remus John Lupin. We leave you a sum of 1,000 galleons and hope you can use it to help your situation in the Wizarding World._

 _To Peter Pettigrew. We leave you a sum of 1,000 galleons in the hope that you can continue helping your friends when needed, and thanks for protecting us to the best of your abilities. Never forget the need for a good, solid friendship._

 _To Sirius Orion Black. We leave a sum of 5,000 galleons and guardianship of Harry. We hope that you can give him the childhood he deserves, and use this to help both of you on in life, despite your family's background._

 _To Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. We leave a sum of 1,000 galleons, in the hope that it can be used to further the war against Voldemort, should we not take him with us._

 _To Harry James Potter. We leave you everything else, including your trust vault, the Potter Family Vault, Potter Manor and our other properties. We wish you to know that we love you, and couldn't have wished to die a better way than to protect you. You should know that while everyone was told Sirius was our Secret Keeper, we changed at the last minute. Dumbledore was the only other who knew. It was actually Peter Pettigrew, as it was believed he would be less obvious._

 _This was the Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter while we are still in good health. Witnessed by Sirius Orion Black and Remus John Lupin, 10th October 1981."_

Ginny once again had her arms around Harry, giving him silent comfort while he cried. Leaning down, he pecked her on the cheek in thanks, then, wiping his eyes on his sleeve, haltingly addressed Ragnok. "Their Will said that Sirius wasn't secret keeper."

"That is interesting, and the others named gives us an idea of where to start. This does at least prove it was never carried out. Dumbledore sealed it the day after their death, preventing anyone from upholding your parent's wishes. Also, that part of the will can be copied, to prove to the Wizengamot that he never betrayed Lily and James. Now, we must discuss your inheritance. As the Will said, all properties were left to you. This is Potter Manor in Cambridgeshire, a house in Godric's Hollow, a holiday home on the south coast of France, and an apartment in New York. In addition, as you already know, the family vault was passed to you, in addition to your trust vault, number 687. This replenishes to 1,000 galleons each year from your family vault until you reach majority. Now you are married, this has happened so it has been merged with the family vault. Furthermore, the Potter name comes with the title Lord and a seat on the Wizengamot. If you want to hide your marriage, it is best not to take this yet as they can only be taken when you have full majority rights. Finally, your parents owned shares in several major companies, all of which are paying into another vault, number 675."

Do you know what these companies are?"

"One is Butterbeer, another is the Nimbus Broom Series, and third is another broom company which at the time was still inventing their broom, and is set to come out this summer, but I am not privy to it's name."

"Okay. I was wondering if we could visit my family vault."

"Certainly."

* * *

When they arrived at vault 021, Harry and Ginny entered while Ragnok waited outside. They quickly found two large, four compartment trunks near the entrance which they decided to use to replace their Hogwarts trunks. They then spent the next hour and a half searching for anything that might be useful. Two of the eight compartments were filled with useful books, one with photo albums, and another with everything else.

While Ginny was busy on the far side of the vault, Harry found a small box, next to a slightly larger one. Opening the larger one first, he found a large amount of jewellery. He was drawn to one piece in particular, which he pocketed to give Ginny on her birthday.

He then opened the smaller box, and gasped. Ginny made her way over to him, and looking over his shoulder, had the same reaction.

In the box were his parent's wedding rings, and his Mum's engagement and promise rings.

"They're beautiful", Ginny said.

In response, Harry removed his Mum's three rings, and carefully slipped them onto his wife's left ring finger. They immediately shrank to fit her perfectly, and merged into one. Ginny grabbed the remaining ring and slid it onto his finger.

The promise ring was a simple gold band with a diamond on it. The engagement ring was silver, with a large ruby surrounded by four small emeralds. The wedding rings were each gold, and contained an emerald and a ruby, both the same size, slightly swirled together, with a small diamond on top where they joined, on each ring.

"If this is what I get for being your wife, I would have arranged for it a lot sooner!" Ginny cheekily stated.

Harry knew she was joking, but decided to play along. "I'd like to think you want to be married to me for more than just my inheritance." He replied, sounding hurt."

"Oh Harry, I was just joking, and I know you'd rather have your parents than this, but please try and make the most of your life from it, don't make their deaths mean nothing!" Ginny replied, worried she had hurt Harry with her untimely joke.

"It's OK Ginny, I know you were joking. I thought I was hiding my feelings well but you clearly know me better than I know myself and could see straight through it. I'm trying to live my life, make it so they didn't die in vain, but it's hard to get over the feeling of guilt." Harry replied.

Ginny relaxed, understanding Harry completely. "Of course I know you better than you do yourself, I can see right through you!" Her cheeky, playful nature returned briefly. "But don't worry about the morose feelings for now, there'll be time for them in the future."

"I fully intend to, and I think the best way to do that is to quickly visit the Gryffindor vault before we head home and spend some quality time cuddled together in bed." Harry replied, his playful nature also slowly starting to return.

After casting a quick invisibility charm so that only the two of them could see their rings, they left the vault and went to carry out the same search in the Gryffindor Vault.

* * *

They spent another half hour looking through all the items in vault 003, but not finding anything that seemed like it would come in immediately useful, they decided to leave everything where it was and come back for it if they needed it in the future.


	9. Two Birthdays

**A/N** \- Once again, here's the next chapter! For those who haven't noticed, I've added the fact that characters are OOC to the description, as it has been pointed out in some reviews that this is the case! (Disclaimer in chapter 1). Harry's presents are from POA, and the letters are similar but have been changed slightly.

 **Chapter 9 - Two Birthdays**

Soon, the 31st of July was upon them. Ginny awoke, once again comfortable in Harry's warm arms, to find him asleep. This was rare, as normally he was awake and watching her sleep when she woke up. She twirled her wand - they had discovered that the trace no longer affected them due to their bond granting them majority rights - and a small package was produced, summoned from where she had hidden it, which she levitated to the pile that had collected at the end of the bed. Spotting a letter with her name on it, she opened it and quickly skimmed through it. There was a similar letter on the table addressed to Harry, so she decided to not mention it till he had opened his. She then wrapped her arms around his neck, and proceeded to kiss him to consciousness.

* * *

As soon as he awoke and realised what day it was, he bounced out of bed. Ginny said, "Happy Birthday, love." Whilst giggling at his eagerness. He was once more surprised by the amount of presents he had, still not used to anyone caring for him. Ginny must have seen his doubtful look, because she laughed, "Yes, they are all for you love."

He pulled on a t-shirt quickly, then sat down on the sofa, pulling Ginny into his lap. He took a moment to bury his face in her sweet smelling hair - a scent that intoxicated him to the point that he couldn't get enough of it, while she rested her head against his chest. Somewhat reluctantly, as he was torn between opening presents and staying in that position, he raised his head, then pulled the first letter towards him. The first one he opened was from Ron. A Daily Prophet clipping fell out.

 ** _MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE_**

 ** _Arthur Weasley, Head of Misuse of Magical Artefacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual_ Daily Prophet _Grand Prize Galleon Draw._**

 ** _A delighted Mr Weasley told the_ Daily Prophet _, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."_**

 ** _The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend._**

"How do you like that Harry, my family visiting Egypt without me." Ginny said cheekily, but you could tell where she'd rather be by the large grin on her face and the quick kiss she gave Harry on the cheek.

"You'd rather be here with me and you know it!" Harry replied with a grin.

"Yes I do, Mr I-Have-A-Rather-High-Opinion-Of-Myself!"

Harry moved to Ron's letter.

 ** _Dear Harry,_**

 ** _Happy Birthday!_**

 ** _It's brilliant here in Egypt. We've seen all the old tombs Bill works in and they're scary, full of mutant disfigured skeletons of Muggles that had broken in and got caught in the traps. Makes me glad that the curse breakers have deactivated everything._**

 ** _We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there?_**

 ** _Don't let the muggles down and KEEP AWAY FROM MY BABY SISTER!_**

 ** _Try and come to London,  
_** ** _Ron  
_** ** _PS: Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week. He and mum are overjoyed. Me and the twins aren't too pleased._**

Ginny was silently fuming at Ron's words, and had half a mind to Bat-Bogey him when they next met.

Harry, seeing an explosion brewing on her face, quickly placated her. "Now Gin, I have no intention of staying away from you. Loving you is more important to me than Ron's friendship."

"But still, he shouldn't be writing that to you, he has no say in what we do. And calling me a baby, why I feel much older than a child ever since last, year..." She trailed off unexpectedly as she brought the memories, since deeply buried with Harry's help, back to the surface inadvertently.

As she buried her head in his shirt, Harry felt her body being racked with sobs, and started to softly stroke her back, while whispering comforting words in her ear. Eventually, she sat back up on his lap, and gave him a somewhat forced grin. "I'm sorry for breaking into tears on your Birthday." She told him.

"It's OK Ginny, I understand, so there's no need to apologise, and I'm happy to be able to help you through it." Harry replied, lovingly, as he used his sleeve to wipe away the remaining tears drying on her face.

"Anyone, you need to carry on opening your presents, this can be left for another time, but it is only your Birthday today."

She snuggled back into his chest, and he picked up the small badly wrapped package from Ron. He looked at the note attached before tearing into the paper quickly and withdrawing the item.

 ** _Harry - this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's supposed to light up and spin. Bill says it's rubbish sold for wizard tourists and isn't reliable, because it kept lighting up at dinner last night. But he didn't realise Fred and George had put beetles in his soup.  
_** ** _Bye - Ron_**

Laughing slightly at Fred and George's antics, and glad to see it wasn't spinning currently, he placed it on the desk Mr Weasley had created, then he moved to the next letter.

 ** _Dear Harry,_**

 ** _I'm on holiday in France at the moment - its amazing here! I was worried about sending this to you - what if customs opened it? But then Hedwig showed up. Evidently she was trying to ensure you got some birthday presents for a change. I ordered it by owl-order from the Daily Prophet - I've been getting it delivered - always good to keep up with the news. I hope you like it._**

 ** _Did you see the picture of Ron's family in Egypt? They look like they're having a great time. Egypt is supposed to be really interesting for old wizarding culture. Bit odd that Ginny wasn't in the photo though. I wonder where she was? Do you know?_**

Harry shared a glance with Ginny. Evidently no one had thought it necessary to tell Hermione the intricacies behind their situation, sos he had no clue that Ginny was actually with Harry.

 ** _There's some interesting local history of witchcraft here, too. I've re-written my whole History of Magic essay to include some of the things I've found out. I hope it's not too long, It's two rolls of parchment more than Professor Binns asked for._**

They both shook their heads. When would Hermione learn that the teachers didn't set homework for the fun of it, and didn't want more than was absolutely necessary because it meant they had to spend longer marking it. Harry had to wonder if the few times she hadn't got Os were not because of the content of her work, but because she had failed to make it concise and to the point, sticking to the amount needed.

 ** _Ron says he's going to be in London in the last week of the holidays. Can you make it? Will your aunt and uncle let you come? If not, I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express on September the first._**

 ** _Love From,  
_** ** _Hermione  
_** ** _PS: Ron says Percy's Head Boy. I'll bet Percy's really pleased. Ron doesn't seem too happy about it._**

Harry opened Hermione's package to find a full broomstick servicing kit.

"Wow Hermione." He whispered. "I was expecting something to do with work, knowing Hermione, perhaps a book."

"I see what you mean, but that could come in really handy." Ginny commented.

"Do you play quidditch?" He asked.

"My brothers never let me join in, but from age six I've been sneaking out at night and stealing their broomsticks to practice. Could you help me when we get to Hogwarts? I want to try out for the team when there's a free space."

"Sure, I'd love to! What position do you play?"

"Chaser or Seeker, but I don't want to take that from you."

"I could persuade Wood to try you in both, so you could be a reserve seeker for when I inevitably spend some quality time in the hospital wing."

"Don't talk like that. I don't like you getting hurt."

"I appreciate your concern, and neither do I, I just know that it always happens."

The next parcel he picked up was a rather large one he recognised to be from Hagrid. It wriggled. Unwrapping it, he dropped the half open package on the floor.

A book crawled out, snapping it's jaws at the packaging, which it quickly devoured, and tried to reach the pair on the couch. Reaching over Ginny, Harry found a belt and, jumping on the book, pinned it down. While this was happening, Ginny took the belt from him and quickly wrapped it round the book, keeping it's jaw shut. They then sat back on the sofa.

"Only Hagrid would send a biting book." Harry commented.

"Look, there's a letter." Ginny pointed out.

 ** _Dear Harry,_**

 ** _Happy Birthday!_**

 ** _Think you might find this useful for next year. Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you._**

 ** _Hope the muggles are treating you right._**

 ** _All the best,  
_** ** _Hagrid_**

It was odd to Harry that Hagrid thought a biting book may be useful, but resolved to wait till they could talk in person, possibly over some of Hagrid's inedible rock cakes.

From Mr and Mrs Weasley, he received an extra large care package, including a chocolate cake, and a letter saying that due to the incompletion of the bond, and the fact that they were taking a family trip to Egypt, they would be staying at Privet Drive till school. This left him with a letter, and a parcel from Ginny. Setting the letter aside, he started on the final present.

Unwrapping it he found a bronze necklace.

"It's a protection amulet." Ginny said nervously. What if he didn't like it? "It's supposed to ward against anything that means harm to you. I thought you might need it with Sirius Black on the loose, given we don't know if he is looking to kill you or not. I was hoping it might avoid you getting hurt at school so much. Do you like it?"

"I love it." He said, clipping it around his neck. Then he leaned towards Ginny, and just before touching his lips to hers, whispered, "I love you." Then he kissed her, holding her against him, and only broke apart when the need for air overcame him. Ginny was all too happy to return the kiss. Then, suddenly realising what he had said for the first time, pulled away and gasped.

"What?" Harry asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's just..." Ginny started nervously. Then she just rushed in - hesitating was not normally something associated with Weasleys - "Harry, do you realise what you just said?"

He thought back over the conversation they had just had. Then, with a smile blooming on his face, replied "I said I loved you. And I do. Don't, don't you feel the same way?" He asked hesitantly.

"Oh no Harry, that's not it at all!" Ginny replied emphatically as she launched herself at him. "I love you too, I have for ages, I just wanted to make sure you knew what you had said and it wasn't something that came out when you didn't mean it."

Accepting her explanation, he pulled her back towards him for another long kiss, before breaking away for another much needed breath.

Settling Ginny across his lap again, Harry returned to the letter.

 ** _Dear Mr Potter,_**

 ** _Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock._**

 ** _Third years and above are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade at certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign._**

 ** _A list of books for next year is enclosed._**

 ** _Yours sincerely,  
_** ** _Professor M. McGonagall  
_** ** _Deputy Headmistress  
_** ** _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_**

"I got one too." Ginny said, holding her letter up.

"I guess we can go to Diagon Alley the day after your birthday. I really don't want to see Ron or Hermione at the moment. Unless you really want to see your family?"

"No, I'm fine. Why don't you want to see your friends?" Ginny asked.

"Ron because he'd most likely flip over seeing me in so much as the same room as you at the moment. I'm going to write him to thank him for the Sneakoscope, but I'll make it clear that I have no intention of staying away from you. It's possible that he believes sending me a present will cause me to forget about you and remember he is my friend. That's not going to work - there's no way I'm letting you go! From there it will be his choice on how to behave, and whether we'll still be talking when we return to Hogwarts. I hope so, but I've not got my hopes up. Hermione I've not got such a problem with, but I know she may well side with Ron, and she'd be too interested in why we spent the summer together, and I mean the real reason, to leave us alone for any period of time."

"Why do you think she'll side with Ron?" Ginny asked inquisitively.

Harry laughed. "Come on Gin, surely you've seen that they like each other?"

"Of course I had. I just didn't think you would have noticed it." Ginny replied cheekily.

"I may be a bit thick, but I'd like to think that after two years I'd know what my best friends' arguing meant." Harry replied, sounding hurt.

"You're a boy, what should I have expected? And anyway, you're not thick, you worked out your feelings for me quicker than I expected."

"How long were you expecting me to take?"

"I figured I may have had to wait until fifth year, or slightly longer. But it doesn't matter, you realised early so I didn't have to wait."

"I'm glad I did. How would I be able to survive without you?" He asked rhetorically.

"Or I without you?" Ginny quipped. Then she returned to the original topic at hand. "I don't see how we're going to go to Hogsmeade though."

"No. Being married, I'm both of our legal guardian, but wanting to keep that a secret I can't sign it. I guess we could just stay at Hogwarts this year and practice Quidditch. Your mum would sign yours but Uncle Vernon never would, even if we pretended they were our guardians."

"I wouldn't mind that, so long as I can spend the time with my Husband." Ginny smiled cheekily.

Harry grinned. "Who knows. Maybe we'll find a way to sneak down without permission."

"You like breaking the rules then?"

"Yeah, even with Hermione following me around for two years. My dad even wants me to carry on his 'pranking legacy'"

"I forgot about that. I was hoping to carry on pranking from Fred and George. Maybe this year we can work with them. The Marauders sounds like a group they should know."

"Okay, we'll ask them on the train. Until then, we've got a month to come up with a whole host of pranks to pull once we get back to Hogwarts."

Harry and Ginny then took turns in the bathroom to get changed, and went downstairs for breakfast, before heading outside to spend the day at the park down the road. Ginny wanted to make sure that Harry definitely didn't have to spend the day in the presence of his relatives,so proceeded to distract him quite thoroughly while they were there.

* * *

A short while later, after they had finished their previous kissing activities, Harry was pushing Ginny on the swing again, loving to see her enjoyment, shown so clearly on her face. He could have just sat on the swing next to her and shown her how to make it swing herself, but he enjoyed the contact with her that pushing her himself gained him, and loved the smile on her face, knowing he was responsible for putting it there.

Suddenly, Ginny put her feet down to stop the swing. After a few more swings back and forth to slow it down, she neatly jumped off while it was at the high point of the swing, and landed gently on her feet. Harry grinned playfully, and gave her a quick applause, while she curtsied in thanks. She took his hand and pulled him over to a nearby tree, then pushed him down and arranged herself across his lap, snuggling into him. His arms immediately came up around her waist to hold her close.

After they had sat in silence for a few minutes, Ginny spoke up. "Can I ask you some questions?"

"Of course." Harry replied easily. While before he may have been wary, not knowing what would be asked, with Ginny he knew he would always answer truthfully, no matter what, and that she wouldn't judge him at all.

"What are all the white lines on the field for?"

Mentally, Harry smiled. This was one he could answer easily, as even though he new he would answer anything, he was still nervous about some topics. "In this case, football. In the muggle world, there are lots of different sports, unlike just Quidditch in the Wizarding World. Often, lines for the games will be painted on fields. Like Quidditch, the national teams have their own stadiums, but football fields are everywhere so village teams of kids can play. I've never seen football be played before, so I don't know what all the lines are for or all the rules are, but I know it's a lot more complicated than Quidditch is. Dean loves it, maybe you could ask him about it."

"Oh right. I saw them when we were last here, and didn't know what they were, but you seemed preoccupied at the time and I didn't want to ask you about it. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Anything else you want to know?"

"Not today, but if I think of something I'll be sure to ask."

They spent a while longer sitting together under the tree, where Harry sneaked a few kisses in on top of her head, before they headed back over to the play equipment for some more fun.

* * *

Soon the 11th of August was upon them. Harry had learnt from Ron during his "treat Ginny as a sister" training - as he now realised that it was - that this was her birthday, but that she also didn't normally tell people about it.

He awoke, and lay in bed staring at the beautiful redhead sleeping in his arms with her head on his chest, thinking about just how lucky he was to have her. He knew that Ginny liked sleeping in from when he had tried to wake her at the start of the summer, and so was happy to wait for her to wake naturally.

* * *

A few hours later, Ginny woke up to see her husband looking tenderly down at her. She wasn't sure why that word still gave her a warm feeling inside. Then she realised that the sun was glaring through the curtains.

"What time is it, and how long were you going to let me sleep for?"

"Just after ten, and as long as you wanted. I know you like sleeping in. Happy Birthday."

This caught Ginny by surprise. She wasn't aware that Harry knew when her birthday was. "How did you know?" She asked.

"Ron may have mentioned it when he talked about you. He also said you rarely mention it. I realise now he probably only told me because he wanted me to think of you as just a sister. Obviously, that didn't work. Look, you have presents!"

At this pronouncement, her head spun around quickly and she was distracted from whatever she was thinking about Ron sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. Presents caused a large amount of excitement in Ginny. Like all Weasleys, the idea of presents was enough to get anyone up and out of bed quickly. She pulled Harry over to the sofa, pushed him down, then seated herself squarely in his lap. His arms automatically came up around her waist, and he rested his chin on her shoulder from behind. She turned her head slightly to give him a quick peck on the lips, then turned back to the pile on the floor. She reached down for the first present.

It was from Ron. He had sent her a large box of Chocolate Frogs and some Chudley Cannons Paraphernalia. It seemed he still hadn't worked out that a) the Chudley Cannons were still the worst team in the country, b) he was the only Weasley supporting them, and c) he was possibly the only person buying any of their paraphernalia. Included was a letter.

 ** _Dear Ginny,_**

 ** _Mum told us where you were staying, and I hope the muggles are treating you better than they treated Harry. Hope he isn't taking advantage of you - tell us if he is and we'll take care of him._**

 ** _Happy Birthday! Hope you like the gift. It's from me, Bill, Charlie and Percy. The twins said they had something else to give you._**

 ** _We weren't told when we would see you. Hope you make it to Diagon Alley in the last week of August, otherwise it will be on the Hogwarts Express._**

 ** _Your VERY CARING brother (don't forget to tell us about Harry)  
_** ** _Ron  
_** ** _PS: In case Harry didn't tell you, Percy made Head Boy. Twins aren't very happy. Many pranks coming up when we return from Egypt._**

"More like overly protective brother." Ginny muttered. "Which of them are going to take care of you anyway? Fred and George have a healthy fear of my bat-bogey hex, and Bill has always looked after me when the others get on my nerves - he wouldn't hurt you. Percy will just believe my parents."

The next gift was from her parents. It was a large box of homemade fudge, as well as some other goodies. She then moved onto a badly wrapped brown package. It chattered.

"Seems like I'm not the only one with a gift from Hagrid." Harry stated dryly, throwing the unusual package some nervous glances.

This time, he was ready when Ginny slowly tore the wrapping of the book, and immediately wrapped a belt around it before it got one snap in. He made a mental note to write to Hagrid about the killer Monster Book of Monsters.

This left her with one package. She opened the letter attached first.

 ** _Our dearest and most favourite sister,_**

 ** _We do hope you decided to continue our pranking legacy. Included is a box of pranking freebies from us. Make sure you remember though, no taking over completely until we leave._**

 ** _Sounds like you're having a lot of luck with your dear Mr Potter. Does he know about the crush you've had on him for the past two years? Hopefully he's reading over your shoulder and I've now totally embarrassed you. Guess I should ensure you get revenge on the right one of us. I'm definitely George._**

 ** _Hope to see you soon,_**

 ** _Gred and Forge,  
_** ** _Master Pranksters of Hogwarts  
_** ** _1989 to present_**

"I'll have to write back to them." Ginny said. "I guess you haven't had time to get me anything. I've been with you all summer."

"Oh, I did get you something, and anyway, you got me something! Here." He said, picking a small package out his bedside table.

Ginny opened it and gasped. Inside was a silver necklace with a pendant hanging from it. The door contained an interlocked emerald and ruby, which opened to produce a small wizarding picture Harry had managed to get taken of the two of them, and sent off to be processed into a moving photo. In the photo, Harry and Ginny were having a tickle match at the park down the road, on Wisteria Walk.

"I love it. Put it on me?" She asked, turning round in his lap. He took it from her, and gently did the clasp behind her neck so that it hung down her front loosely. "How did you get it?"

"I found it in the vault when we visited Ragnok. There used to be a picture of my parents in it, which I put in one of the photo albums. It was in what looked like my mum's jewellery box, the one next to the wedding rings." He said, gazing adoringly at the rings on their hands.

Ginny quickly wrote back to her brothers. Harry also wrote some thank yous, as they had decided to send all of them off with Hedwig at once.

 ** _Ron,_**

 ** _HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTECTION, I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF. I'M NOT YOUR BABY SISTER ANYMORE._**

 ** _Harry's been great, thanks for the present,  
_** ** _Ginny  
_** ** _PS: You're lucky is isn't a howler, and that's only because I don't know how to make them, YET._**

Then one for the twins.

 ** _Dear Gred and Forge._**

 ** _I would love to continue your pranking. I even have a very willing assistant who will do anything I ask him. We must speak to you on the train._**

 ** _Currently you are my favourite brothers, as the others all seem to think I need protecting from Harry. Speaking of him, things are going well, but wait until we next meet._**

 ** _I feel you should know, we are deliberately avoiding meeting the family at Diagon Alley. Don't tell anyone else, but we just can't bear to see them at the moment, Ron especially._**

 ** _See you on September the first,_**

 ** _Your loving sister  
_** ** _Ginny_**

Harry also scribbled a note down for Hagrid.

 ** _Hagrid,_**

 ** _Quick question about the books, is there any way to stop them killing us?_**

 ** _Thanks for the presents,  
_** ** _Harry and Ginny_**

They had decided that Hagrid was someone who would find out about where Ginny had been staying. He then wrote one to Ron.

 ** _Ron,_**

 ** _Thanks for the present - I can think of times it would come in really helpful!_**

 ** _I have no intention of leaving Ginny alone, just so you know, but I'm not taking advantage of her in any way._**

 ** _Thanks again for the present,  
_** ** _Harry_**

And one for Hermione.

 ** _Dear Hermione,_**

 ** _Thanks for the broomstick servicing kit, it'll be really useful! I'm glad you didn't have to send it through customs, they would have been so confused._**

 ** _As for where Ginny is, you'll just have to wait till we're back at Hogwarts to find out._**

 ** _Friendly advice - do you think the teachers say how long an essay should be for the fun of it, and enjoy reading 2 rolls extra parchment? If everyone did that, think how much longer the marking would take. Just a tip!_**

 ** _We won't be seeing you in Diagon Alley unfortunately, so I'll see you on September first._**

 ** _Your Friend (and remember that advice!)  
_** ** _Harry_**

Harry had become a lot more outgoing with his opinion since Ginny had come to stay with him at Privet Drive. Before, he never would have considered saying that Hermione might be missing the point about something. Ginny was happy to see he was getting more of his own opinions and some individuality, and not letting others dictate his life. They also realised that the last sentence of Harry's letter to Hermione would really confuse the older girl, but it didn't matter. All the more fun when they revealed the truth!

Ginny then took all the letters and left them in a pile on the desk, as Hedwig had gone out hunting, despite it being nearly midday. She then started to lie back down on the bed, but Harry had another surprise for her, after dragging her out the house.

"Where are we going?" She asked, while clasping his hand and walking beside him. "Not that I wouldn't say no to a nice walk in the park with my husband." She added.

"I've realised I've never actually taken you on a proper date before, so that is where we are going now. Then the walk in the park. I want to avoid the Dursleys as much as possible today."

He led her to a nearby diner, where he ordered them each a coke and sandwich. "It's not great I know, but I don't really have muggle means of getting anywhere better. I promise we will some other time."

Ginny was amazed by the can of coke, the ingenious muggle technology on the cap and the way it was fizzy inside. "My Dad would love this! He's amazed with anything muggle!"

After a moment, Harry grinned. "You know, we could get another can and send it to him with Hedwig." He suggested.

"What am I missing?" Ginny asked a touch suspiciously.

"Well, if shaken before they are opened, the drink is liable to explode everywhere when it is finally opened, something to do with the build up of pressure I think." He smiled.

"To be honest, Dad would probably love that too!" Ginny grinned with him.

When they were finished, they bought another can, then headed to the park, where they walked around for a bit, before sitting beside a tree, with Ginny on Harry's lap, and started kissing. Soon, they got more heated, as their hands ran through each others hair, pulling themselves closer together, but still they didn't go any further, content with the progress of their relationship, despite their recent change in status.

* * *

After returning to the Dursleys, they rushed up to Harry's room, where they found Hedwig. Ginny removed her from her cage, while Harry hurriedly wrapped up the can. He scribbled a quick note - _**Hi Mr Weasley, Ginny and I were out today and thought you might enjoy this muggle drink. Please bring Hedwig back with you tomorrow. Harry and Ginny**_. He then carefully tied it to Hedwig's leg, along with the many letters for their friends and family.

"I know it's a bit heavier than you're used to, but can you take this to Mr Weasley for us? Oh, and don't shake it, or it might explode all over him when he opens it. Can you please deliver Hermione and Hagrid's letters first, then head to Egypt to find the Weasleys for the rest of the deliveries." At the thought of the mysterious contents of the can covering Mr Weasley, Hedwig's eyes gained a mysterious glint to them, before she gave them a hoot, spread her wings, and took off out the open window.

"She's going to deliberately shake it up now, isn't she?" Ginny asked.

"Most certainly seemed like it, cheeky owl." Harry replied. They decided to head to bed, as Mr Weasley wasn't expected till the next afternoon.


	10. Another Aunt Arrives

**A/N** \- Sorry this took longer to get out - the editing has taken hours because I've been adding so much in. It would have been longer, but to make it flow better I moved the chapter break forward, so it ends earlier than it used to.  
 _duplici exemplari_ means Duplicate.  
I had to shrink the amount of time between Aunt Marge arriving and Harry [and Ginny] leaving from canon to fit. (Disclaimer in chapter 1).

 **Chapter 10 - Another Aunt Arrives**

The next day, Harry headed downstairs before Ginny woke up to start breakfast. He preferred to let Ginny sleep in for as long as possible, for a few reasons. He didn't want her to feel obliged to share in his chores, he liked being able to make her a surprise breakfast with all her favourites, and he much preferred a happy Ginny to a grumpy one, and he knew a sure-fire way to achieve that was allowing her to sleep in as long as she wanted. He was interrupted on his journey to the kitchen by Uncle Vernon.

"Boy, remember that Aunt Marge is visiting this week. Make sure you behave, and your friend stays upstairs, and I might think about signing your form."

Harry had told him about the Hogsmeade form on the off chance he would sign it. It hadn't worked. All he'd got was a half-hearted promise that if he behaved during Aunt Marge's visit and Ginny wasn't seen, he might think about it. In Harry's opinion, the form was unlikely to be signed no matter what happened. Ginny had decided only to give her parents her form if Harry's was signed. No point revealing her advancement to the next year unnecessarily. It would probably just cause her mother to break down into tears again.

* * *

Just after lunch, a knock was heard on the door. Knowing it was Mr Weasley with another care package, Harry headed downstairs to open it, then invited him back up to his room. Ginny was lounging on the sofa, and he sat next to her, then wrapped an arm round her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

Mr Weasley was looked to be fighting his emotions between joy and anger. He headed over to Hedwig's cage to allow the snowy owl (who looked very pleased with herself) to jump off of his shoulder, then took a seat on a chair he pulled out from the desk opposite them, placing another hamper stuffed full of food between them.

Finally, he smiled. "What was it you sent me, and am I to assume it wasn't meant to explode in my face?" He asked cautiously.

"It's a type of muggle drink. Fizzy drinks are very popular in the muggle world, with the unfortunate side effect of exploding everywhere if you shake them before opening them." Harry replied.

"I tried one for the first time yesterday. They're really nice and I thought you would like it, especially how they get the can to open. We asked Hedwig to avoid shaking it on delivery, but she must be getting a mischievous streak, as she got a glint in her eyes and took off immediately."

Mr Weasley laughed. "That owl! Well, I did look at the can once it had finished covering me with its contents. It certainly works in a way I've not seen before. I'll have to explore it further. Anyway, what was happening yesterday to cause you to be able to get muggle drinks. I doubt your relatives would provide them?"

Harry blushed as red as Mr Weasley's hair. "I, um..., I decided to take Ginny out on a date for her birthday." Harry responded, worriedly. Ginny grinned at him being so obviously scared of her father, but knew what was coming next.

"Oh. Now I wish I hadn't asked. I don't think I wasn't quite prepared to hear you were dating, Ginny-girl. I'd only just got over the fact that your unique circumstances forced you into sharing a bed." He replied sadly.

Harry and Ginny fought a grin and another, this time shared, blush, thinking about how much more their relationship was than he thought. They'd skipped dating - they were married.

"Please don't tell mum yet." Ginny implored. "We want to be safely back at school before she finds out - give her some time to calm down before she sees us again. You know she'll take the news much worse than you did." Harry nodded his agreement.

"Yes, unfortunately she probably will. Neither of us were really prepared to see you start growing up, but for some reason its been worse on her. I won't tell her yet - you don't need the fuss it will kick up." Mr Weasley shook his head slightly, trying to clear such thoughts from his mind. "Anyway, back to what I'm meant to be here for. How are they treating you at the moment?" He hadn't had a chance to visit since before Harry's birthday - International apparition was not easy to do and highly restricted, therefore he could do it rarely to get back from Egypt.

"OK, they're still mostly ignoring us. It would be best if no one visited for the next week though. Uncle Vernon's sister is visiting for the week."

"Oh. Presumably she doesn't know about Ginny?"

"No. They've extracted from us a rather alarming promise that she never leaves the room while Aunt Marge is here, and that I am free to help with chores whenever necessary."

"Oh that won't do at all!" He stood up, and drew his wand. "This won't last more than the week unfortuantely, as it's unauthorised. Really I need a licence to do this, but it should be OK." He started twirling his wand in some complicated motions, and a door appeared on the blank wall between the door to the landing and the window. He paused for a moment, then muttered to himself, "Given I'm doing this anyway, I might as well also give you another room." Suddenly, another door appeared.

"What's behind them?" Ginny asked.

"I've expanded the room with an undetectable extension charm, but added in walls where they used to be. If any of the muggles look in here, they'll see a normal sized room. I already cast a rather specialised charm over the furniture I created for you before so it still looks as it always did. Behind one door is a garden. If you can't leave the room, you need part of the room to feel like the outside. The majority of the ceiling is glass, so because it's outside the boundary of the house you'll be able to see the sky. The other door is a bathroom. I decided since I'm doing unauthorised room expansion already, there was nothing wrong with giving you an en-suite for yourselves, so you don't have to share with the muggles."

"Thank you Daddy!" Ginny threw her arms around him. "I was worried what I would do here for a week straight!"

"That's OK. Anything for my Ginny-girl. Now lets see about the other issue." He carefully removed his daughter's arms from around him, then started off to the stairs waving a hand at them to stay put. Harry grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her down to sit next to him again. He whispered in her ear "I wasn't expecting to have to tell your dad today that I took you out on a date. That was embarrassing." His breath tickled her ear, blowing some strands of fiery hair across her face.

"What, the great Harry Potter, scared of my parents knowing your feelings for me?"

"Yep! You've got to admit Gin, we are rather young to be in this position."

"I know, but that doesn't stop me wanting to do this." She turned her head slightly, and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss filled with her love for him. It continued until they heard Mr Weasley's footsteps coming back up the stairs, when Harry pulled away.

"As much as I love that, I don't think your dad could survive another surprise like that today." He calmed her.

" _Our_ dad, Harry." She responded emphatically. "We're married, so he's yours as well."

"OK, but again, that's another surprise I don't want to give him right now. Do you want to tell him we won't be meeting up with them in Diagon Alley?"

"No." She sook her head. "I trust the twins to be quiet, they can keep secrets. Dad isn't so good. He won't outright tell anyone, but it will be obvious he's hiding something and as soon as mum challenges him he will break down and tell her."

Harry nodded, taking her word for it. She would know her parents better than he did. At that moment, Mr Weasley reentered the room, but chose not to comment on his daughters embrace with the young man she sat next to.

* * *

When Arthur had headed downstairs, he made his way to the living room, where he noticed people in a large black box talking to the Dursleys on the sofa opposite. "Ooh, a tellvesin! I've always wondered how they work." But as he took a step into the room it changed to static on the screen.

"Hey! What're you doing down here? You're meant to be staying upstairs with the freaks!"

"Ah, now there's the issue, you see it's just not possible for Harry to spend all day doing chores for you, all week. You can choose a maximum of 3 hours of chores a day for him to do, and if there's another hour worth he can do in his room with Ginny's help then give him that, but he must have the rest of his day free. You see, in the Wizarding World - " he ignored their flinch at 'Wizarding', " - that is considered the maximum labour a day for a growing witch or wizard. Anything else, and it must be done by an adult, or a house-elf."

"Now see here..." Vernon spluttered. "You can't just tell us what to do!" He made to get up, but the time it took to move his weight into a position where he could consider holding himself up, Arthur had taken his wand out, and muttered a handy spell to force him back into his seat.

"I think you'll find, I can." He replied, twirling his wand.

"OK, no more than 4 hours a day, one with his friend. Don't do anymore freaky stuff on us!"

"Of course not, if you stop calling use freaks. We're not, you know."

"OK. Just fix the television and get out of here!"

"Oh, television, is that how you pronounce it?" He inquired. "It should fix itself when I leave, but I don't know how much longer they'll work at all. Elektricty doesn't work near bouts of magic, such as those rolling off of a fully grown wizard, or a young more powerful one. It should start again when I leave the room, but if you anger Harry, he may render it useless for a while as well. He did take on a fifty foot snake last year."

This seemed to scare the Dursleys even more. The idea of not being able to watch TV was unheard of to them. With that, Mr Weasley left the room and headed back upstairs, slowly to avoid seeing anything happening between Harry and Ginny he didn't want to, and the static left the TV allowing the Dursleys to calm down again.

* * *

"What did you do?" Ginny asked.

"I persuaded them that having Harry doing chores all day wasn't acceptable." Mr Weasley responded calmly.

"There's more to it than that Daddy - I know it. They won't have given in that easily."

Now he looked uncertain. "No, well, I'm sure the tel, tellyves, ..."

"Television." Harry prompted.

"Yes that, going fuzzy and buzzing when I walked into the room and me drawing my wand may have had something to do with their change of heart."

"You didn't hurt them did you?" Harry asked.

"No of course not. Though I don't know why you care - they've treated you horribly." He stated.

"Well, even if they did, they're still my only surviving family." He replied, uncertainty colouring his voice.

Ginny wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug worthy of Mrs Weasley. "You're too good Harry."

"Sor..." he started, but stopped as he saw Ginny's smile turn to a frown.

"Don't apologise." She said, slightly crossly. "It was a compliment."

"Oh."

Ginny withdrew and Harry wrapped his arm over her shoulders again, pulling her back into his side.

"Anyway," Mr Weasley started again, "They now can't give you more than 4 hours of chores a day, one hour of which you must be able to carry out in here with Ginny's help, though its up to you two whether she does help or not."

"Of course I will." Ginny replied promptly. "I had chores at home, and its not fair for Harry to have to do everything here."

"You don't have to... " Harry started.

"I _want_ to." She replied emphatically, in a tone that Harry knew meant that the conversation was closed. Soon after that, Mr Weasley left for the ministry designated international apparation point to head back to Egypt.

* * *

That evening, Aunt Marge was sitting at the table. She had arrived with Uncle Vernon from the station an hour earlier through the pouring rain, and Harry had immediately been directed to take her coat, drag her luggage upstairs to the guest room, then start on cooking dinner.

While taking the suitcase upstairs, he heard a sudden yapping. It seemed Ripper the dog had been invited as well. Harry had bad memories of Ripper. When he was six, the dog had chased him up a tree and then sat at the bottom for hours, barking menacingly the whole time. On the other hand, as soon as Dudley appeared, he transformed into a well behaved pet, yapping for attention.

Harry peeked his head into his room to see Ginny laying on the bed, reading his Transfiguration textbook from the previous year. Since it seemed she would have little to do for the week, and Harry would probably not be able to pend much time with her, she had decoded that she would read all his textbooks from the previous year, so as to catch up since she was skipping the year.

"You enjoying yourself?" He asked her, quietly.

"Enough. I'll probably be bored to death by the end of the week, I'm getting through this really quickly." Harry took a step over to peer at the page she was on. She had already reached the content they had covered the previous December.

"Yeah, that's not going to last you long." He agreed.

"I heard Aunt Marge arrive. Are you OK?"

"As well as I can be. I'm not looking forward to meeting her dog again though."

"Again?" She inquired.

"Its a long story. I'll tell you when I get a chance. I don't know when I'll be up tonight, so just go to bed without me. I'll try not to wake you as I come in."

"No way is that happening!" She replied, somewhat fiercely, though still quietly, understanding the need for discretion. "I'm waiting up for you, I want to make sure you're OK when you get away."

Harry knew there was no point in arguing with her when she looked like she did now, her wonderful chocolate brown eyes glowing with the book open on her lap and her hands on her hips. She looked beautiful when she was angry, though he would prefer it to never be directed at him. "OK!" He replied quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'll try to get away quickly. See you later!" He blew her a kiss from the door, then closed it behind him and headed downstairs, dreading reaching the bottom.

* * *

"There you are boy! What took so long? You're meant to be cooking - we're hungry!" Harry knew better than to respond to his question, so ducked under his arm that was outstretched to the side, and quickly made his way to the kitchen for the second time that day before Uncle Vernon decided more of a punishment was in order.

Harry quickly made his way to the hob, where several pots were waiting on a low heat. He took a peak inside them to make sire he knew what was in them, the turned the heat up under them to different amounts. It had been drilled into him since he could reach the cooker how to prepare the Dursleys favourite meals so that everything was ready at the same time.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Aunt Marge came up behind Dudley, who was sitting lazily in one of the oversized, overstuffed couches, and grabbed him round the neck in a hug. She planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, which Dudley sat through despite how revolting he found it. He knew what normally came next, and sure enough, a twenty pound note appeared from somewhere in Aunt Marge's pocketless dress and she stuffed it into Dudley's hand. The sight of the money meant he wasn't going to question where it came from, but Harry did in his head.

Soon he had the meal prepared, and deftly served it all onto four plates. He knew better than to try saving any for Ginny and himself, as Aunt Petunia had provided them each with a few slices of bread and butter and a glass of water earlier. It seemed they would have to make do on the bare minimum from his relatives, and the care packages sent by Mrs Weasley.

As soon as the meal was served, he was ordered to start cleaning the kitchen. He continued until they finished eating, when he washed their dishes as well. As soon as he finished, Aunt Petunia sent him to bed.

* * *

The next morning, Harry awoke sleepily at six to head downstairs and start breakfast. He quickly made up two bowls of cereal, one of which he ate himself, and the other he took upstairs and laid on Ginny's bedside table with a short note. Then, heading back downstairs, he started cooking the sausages, bacon and eggs for the Dursleys. They only got cereal for Ginny and he - they would never consider not having a full English breakfast, and wouldn't waste any on 'freaks'.

By seven thirty, he had everything ready as the Dursleys started rising to eat. He was told to prepare a packed lunch for them, as they would be going to the zoo again for the day. Once it was prepared, Aunt Petunia dumped a stack of paper, some pens, and some folders in his arms. "Take these upstairs. I want the pictures sorted into chronological order and then you can write thank you letters for Duddikins to send. I'll be checking the, to make sure you've done a good job."

"Yes Aunt Petunia." He'd long since learnt not to argue.

"Oh, and you're not to come downstairs while we're gone, except to start dinner. Have it ready for seven."

"Yes Aunt Petunia."

When the Dursleys had left, he rushed upstairs to see Ginny.

* * *

When Ginny woke up, she immediately noticed that Harry was no longer in bed. She rolled over and spotted the bowl of cereal with a note on the bedside table. She picked up the note first.

 ** _Gin,_**

 ** _Here's some breakfast for you. I'll try to get back up soon. Try and have some fun._**

 ** _I love you,_**

 ** _Harry._**

She placed the note to the side, tears in her eyes at how kind Harry was being to her, and picked up the cereal to eat it. Once he'd found out she'd have to spend the week inside, he'd made it his mission to keep her happy in any way possible, knowing at the Burrow she'd been able to go outside each day, despite the fact he'd been in the same position.

She didn't have to wait long for Harry to arrive, in fact she'd only just finished eating, and her attention was immediately drawn to the pile in his hands, before she looked up into his eyes.

"Thank you for the note - you're being so kind to me." She said haltingly.

Harry quickly strode over to the bed, plucking the now empty bowl out of her hand and putting it back on the bedside table then sitting down and wrapping her in his arms. "Hey, why the tears?" He asked softly while stroking his hands down her back.

"You're in the same position as me - you shouldn't have to cheer me up when its just as bad for you." She responded, a few tears leaking out from her chocolate brown eyes.

"I don't, but I want to. I like trying to make you happier. Don't think about it, just accept it, because you won't be able to stop me." Soon, she bunched her hand in the front of his shirt, pulled it to her and wiped her eyes and cheeks dry on it. She still hated how quick to succumb to tears she was nowadays. Then she leaned up and kissed him softly, lingeringly, on the lips.

"I love how kind you're being to me."

"I love doing it, and don't intend to ever stop."

"What did you bring up with you?" She asked, changing the subject.

"The chores I can do up here with you. I'm meant to..." He trailed off.

" _We're_ meant to" Ginny cut in fiercely.

"We're meant to" He corrected hurriedly, "sort the photos in the folders into chronological order with the dates on the back, and write Dudley's thank you letters for him."

"Why are we writing the whale's letters?"

"Because he's so spoilt and would throw a tantrum if he was forced to do so himself." Harry replied dryly.

"When was his birthday anyway?"

"A few weeks before mine."

"Then surely they should have already been written?"

"Most years they're never written. It's a new chore Aunt Petunia just thought of this morning, given she wants me upstairs all day. The family will be so surprised to be thanked for once."

"I know then - lets head into the garden, get these done with, then have fun in the grass the rest of the day. You go now, I'll be along in a second." She jumped up, gathered some clothes quickly, then headed into the bathroom.

Harry took the pile of chores into the garden room. Ginny was right - it was such a lovely day that the garden was the best place to be. He laid out the paper and pens, then found the list of Dudley's presents. After marvelling over the pens having returned from the bathroom, Ginny helped Harry get down to writing the letters. With both of them working it got done in ten minutes, and they turned to the pictures.

Harry opened the first folder, and took all the pictures out of their holders, while Ginny did the second. They then did the same for the other two. Each of them now had two piles of photos. They sorted each pile into order, so the oldest was on the bottom, then merged it into one to get a large pile all in order.

Ginny grabbed a folder and opened it to the back. Harry started taking pictures off the top of the pile and adding them to the folder, as Ginny turned the pages, then when they reached the front she grabbed the next. As they reached the last picture, Harry gasped. Ginny looked up. "What is it?"

Mutely, Harry held out the picture he was looking at. It was of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's wedding. But that's not what caused Harry's silence. It was that in the back of the picture, you could just see a glimpse of Lily Potter.

Ginny looked back up, and was dismayed to see tears in his eyes. Scrambling over to him, she quickly wrapped her arms tightly round him, pulling him into her body, nestling slightly on his lap. She was happy to feel his arms slowly come up around her to rest in her long hair he loved so much. It meant he wasn't completely frozen at the sight of his mother.

"Harry, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly. She couldn't think of any reason for him to act this way, even with what he'd just seen. Then it clicked. "Have you never seen any pictures of your parents before?"

Harry was silent for so long that she was worried that he wouldn't reply at all. But then he quietly started speaking from where his head had come to rest on her shoulder. "I have seen them before, but only since the end of my first year. Hagrid gave me a picture album with some photos from their wedding. Its more that Aunt Petunia still had a picture with my mum in it, but not once in twelve years did she ever think to show me."

Ginny felt her own eyes tear up at his plight. "Oh love, I'm so sorry. I have no idea why they hated you so much, it makes no sense. But why has she allowed you to see it now?"

"It was probably an accident - she forgot it existed." Harry started smiling at her.

"What are you grinning for?"

"You." He responded playfully. "You apologised even though it is in no way your fault. You're always telling me not to do that."

Unable to help herself, Ginny started grinning too. "Yes, but it seemed like something anyone would normally say in this situation so I couldn't help myself. Now lets put that picture in and have some fun."

"Wait, not yet." He got up and quickly went to his room, before returning with his second year charm book. "I remember a spell mentioned in here. We didn't learn it last year, but it explained the incantation and wand movement. It's meant to duplicate an object." He flicked through a few pages. "I've found it - the incantation is _duplici exemplari_ and the wand movement is a jab at the object, then a quick slice to the left and another jab."

He practiced the motion a few times, and the pronunciation, then performed the spell on the picture. Another picture appeared next to it, showing the same image.

Harry took the duplicate back to his room to place on the bedside table, while Ginny inserted the original into the last space in the album. Looking back over what they'd done, she was upset to see that while there were many pictures displaying Dudley as he grew up, there were none that even caught Harry in a corner. She hastily wiped away her tears when she heard Harry returning, she didn't want to upset him by crying for him, as she knew it would.

After Harry had returned, they started messing around in the grass, spending a while having a tickle match in the sun before it got too hot. Harry quickly, despite his Aunt's orders, snuck downstairs to get them both a glass of water, which they downed thankfully. Rather than prepare anything for lunch that the Dursleys might notice was missing, they found a blanket under the bed, and after Ginny had cast a cleaning charm over it, spread it out on the grass under a tree, and selected a limited lunch from their hamper, knowing it would have to last the week. When they finished eating they lay down next to each other before a while, before mutually turning towards each other and starting to kiss, still going no further than they had before, until it was time for Harry to head back downstairs to get dinner ready for his relatives, while Ginny continued reading, now onto his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook.

* * *

The Dursleys arrived home just as Harry finished preparing dinner - years of practice meant his timing was impeccable. Harry tried to keep quiet while they were eating, but his feelings took over common sense.

"Why did you not tell me you had a picture of my mum?"

It was asked quietly, but the effect was just as sudden and large. They all fell silent and turned to him, with Dudley and Aunt Marge jumping in their seats. Aunt Marge had never heard him speak before, and Dudley hadn't that summer. "What did you say, boy?" Uncle Vernon growled dangerously.

Harry knew he should stop, but couldn't help himself and stood his ground. "I said, why did you not tell me you had a picture of my mum?" He was staring unblinkingly at Aunt Petunia.

"I have no idea what you are on about." She replied calmly, but the look in her eyes spoke volumes - continue and you won't be fed for a week. He'd seen it before.

"Yes you do." He responded accusingly. "In the pictures you had me sort, there's one of your wedding. My mum was in the corner. I didn't even know my mum went to your wedding."

"Petunia..." Uncle Vernon growled again.

"I have no idea what the boy is talking about. I never saw Lily at our wedding - she'd already ran off with that Potter fellow."

"Him?" Marge spoke up now. "You told me he was an ungrateful laze-around Petunia, and I must say I agree. It's quite obvious you take after him boy. My brother took you in out of the goodness of his heart..."

"Yeah, that's why I go days on end without food and get told lies about my parents." Harry muttered darkly.

"Where did you say he went to school Vernon?" Marge asked sweetly.

"Um, St. Brutus's. A Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys. The perfect school for misbehaving, ungrateful toerags like him."

"Hmm. Tell me boy, they use the cane at St. Brutus's?"

Harry's streak of ignoring the warning signs was at an end. He saw the dangerous glint in Uncle Vernon's eye, as he nodded slowly, prompting a response, from behind Aunt Marge. The glint was more dangerous than before, and the main reason Harry stopped was because he was afraid of Uncle Vernon deciding to take out his anger on Ginny instead of him.

"Oh yes, all the time." Harry responded quickly. "I've had it loads."

"Hmm. Obviously not enough. Actually, I was wrong. He doesn't take after his dad, it must be his mum."

"What!?" Harry shouted incredulously.

"Yes, you see it all the time in dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch then there's something wrong with the pup." Marge explained patiently.

Harry could feel his anger getting the better of him, and saw through his half-closed eyes Aunt Marge's glass smash. "Are you OK Marge?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"Yes, my mistake, I have a very strong grip you know." She dabbed at her chin with a napkin. It was obvious that Uncle Vernon hadn't been tricked. He knew what it had been - accidental magic, and from the looks of Harry, it was about to get a lot worse.

One by one, Aunt Marge's cardigan buttons started popping off and flying around the room, as her body started to outgrow her clothing. Soon, she was floating out of her chair, and bumped of the ceiling. Dudley was starting to cry, and Aunt Petunia was comforting him.

Unfortunately, it was such a nice day they'd left the patio door open, right behind Aunt Marge's chair. She started floating out of the door, and Uncle Vernon lugged his cumbersome body after her. He grabbed her arm, but started floating as well. Ripper the dog closed his mouth around Uncle Vernon's leg, grabbing hold as he screamed. Eventually, Uncle Vernon said "Sorry." With a sad smile and let go, dropping back into the garden with Ripper.

Harry took one look at what had happened, having calmed down, and rushed upstairs to his room.

* * *

Reaching his bedroom, he immediately started throwing his and Ginny's possessions into his trunk. Ginny, sensing something was wrong, stood up and started helping. There would be time for explanations later. All Harry had said since arriving in the room was "we need to get out of here." The last thing Ginny did before hoisting the end of her trunk up was to tie her hair back into a sloppy ponytail. She caught Harry's disappointed look - she knew how much he loved to run his hands through it.

"Don't worry, it's not for long." She told him. "I figure we need to move quickly and its easier to do that without my long hair getting in the way."

They headed outside, and to Magnolia Crescent, where Harry called the Knight Bus. In the dark they didn't realise how close to the curb they were standing, and when the bus appeared they were forced to fall backwards onto the pavement to avoid it running over their feet. The bus stopped just past them, and they caught sight of a giant black dog.

They were unsure as to what they had actually seen, so looked again. There was nothing there. "We must have imagined it." Ginny said.

Harry nodded, then turned to the conductor, who was looking down at them from the bottom step oddly. "Leaky Cauldron please." He told Stan.

Stan grabbed both cases, and dragged them up onto the bus, placing them beside the beds at the back. Harry and Ginny sat on the two beds and had a whispered conversation, while Stan, after taking payment, headed to the front to tell the disembodied head - Ernie - to continue on. After the bus lurched into motion, Ginny started the conversation.

"Why are we leaving?"

"I accidentally blew up Aunt Marge." Harry replied, curling in on himself slightly. What would Ginny think of him, being unable to control his accidental magic.

"There's more to it than that, Potter!" Ginny growled lowly. "And what do you mean blew up?" She inquired.

"I'd asked Aunt Petunia about the picture - I couldn't help myself. And by blow up I mean she became a balloon and flew away."

"Oh." She moved across to his bed, and wrapped her arms around him from beside him in a comforting hug. "What are we going to do now then?"

"Thought we'd head to the Leaky Cauldron so we had somewhere to stay and could go to Diagon Alley."

"Oh. But this means we can't sleep together."

"I'll sort it."

"I guess it's a good thing that just before we left, I received a letter from Dad. E said he wouldn't be able to visit us any more this summer. He was going to try and continue sending the food baskets - but you know what Errol is like."

Harry winced at the thought of poor old Errol having to carry such a large hamper of food. "I guess we could write back to say he needn't bother with the hampers, and that we've found an alternative source."

Ginny moved back to her bed, and pulled some parchment from the first compartment of her trunk. She scribbled a note down, then placed it into the top of her trunk again. "So, you never told me. What is the problem with that dog?"

"What, Ripper? When I was six, I accidentally stood on his paw on my way to make lunch. He chased me up the tree in the backyard, and Aunt Marge refused to call him off till it was dark. When I finally got back inside, I was welcomed by my Uncle's dulcet tones shouting that I should have spent the time making them lunch and dinner, as well as cleaning the kitchen and two bathrooms, not playing hide-and-seek with a dog. As if I wanted to!"

"Oh Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, moving next to him again.

Harry was upset to see tears pooling in her eyes. He wrapped her up in a tight, warm hug. "Hey, don't cry on my behalf, there are much better reasons for it. Try and give me a smile Gin."

This made her start crying harder. "Harry, that's just why I should cry for you. You don't see yourself as special enough to receive attention from anyone else, even though everyone else in the world would. I intend to work on changing that about you."

Harry couldn't argue with that, so he planted a soft kiss on the head, before gently pushing her back to her bed as Stan came up to them. "We shoul' be a' the Leaky Cauldron in ten minu'es." He told them.


	11. From Alley to Train

**A/N** \- Once again, another chapter complete! This one took a lot of editing, drawing on previous comments and reviews to help improve it. Thanks for all the help - the reviews Iet definitely make writing this worth it, so please please please keep it up! The result is what you see here - this chapter alone is longer than the first five put together! (Disclaimer in first chapter)

 **Chapter 11 - From Alley to Train**

Upon arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Ginny entered the bar. They headed up to the counter, and where about to ask Tom for somewhere to stay, when he spoke up. "Harry, the minister is waiting to speak to you - private conference room 1. While you're talking with him, I'll get your lady friend here a drink." He pointed at a door to the side of the bar.

Harry reluctantly made his way toward the indicated door, dreading the coming conversation. What was going to happen to him? Opening the door, he spotted Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge sitting at the far end, behind the head desk.

"Ah, Harry. I trust your journey was reasonably comfortable? I dread the Knight Bus, you know - much too bumpy and the driver is crazy, but sometimes it can be useful." Fudge sounded rather jovial.

"What's going to happen to me?" He was cautious - what he thought should be happening didn't match up with how Fudge currently sounded.

Fudge was taken aback. "Why, whatever do you mean, my boy?"

"I did magic outside of school. Am I going to be expelled - will you send me to Azkaban?"

"Oh my dear boy no! We don't send people to Azkaban for misdeeds as trivial as blowing up aunts!" He laughed, a strange wheezing sound filling the room. "And anyway - did you mean to?"

"No - my wand was upstairs, I think it was accidental magic."

"Then that's OK then. We won't expel you for that. We got a few reports in of muggles seeing someone floating in Little Whinging. The Ministry Obliviators went in to wipe memories. No harm done - you'll be glad to know your aunt is fine, the accidental magic reversal squad popped her back to her normal size, so we'll here no more about it. Her memories of the evening were wiped as well."

"Thank you minister."

"Don't mention it my boy, don't mention it! Tom the bartender has instructions to help you in anyway you need so there'll be no need to venture outside Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron - especially with Sirius Black on the loose you know."

With that, Fudge stood and swept out of the room, his cloak billowing behind in a way that reminded dHarry of Snape entering classrooms, but not as dramatically. He also headed back to the main bar, to meet up with Ginny again.

* * *

"So young miss, what'll it be?"

Ginny was startled out of her musings, looking towards the door Harry had just headed through, by Tom addressing her from the counter.

"Oh, um..."

"I know, I've got just the ticket - Butterbeer!" He pulled a bottle up to the counter and emptied some into a glass which he then pushed across to her. "Go on, give it a try!"

Ginny pocked up the glass slightly warily, then shrugging, raised it to her lips and took a sip. She was mildly startled to feel herself warm up drastically - for some reason despite it being yet another warm night the bar was very cold - and find it very nice tasting. "How have I never heard of this before?"

"It's not new, but its generally not something a parent would buy a young child. Most teens find out how nice it is in Hogsmeade their third year."

Ginny smile faltered slightly at the sound of Hogsmeade, but she quickly plastered a fake one back on her face. If Tom noticed anything he didn't point it out. She was slightly upset at not being able to attend Hogsmeade that year, even though she shouldn't have until the next anyway, but knew she'd never tell Harry. As much as she wanted to visit the village, she'd much prefer to wait until Harry could come with her, and explore it all for the first time with him.

At this point, Harry came back out, following behind Fudge. The once again jovial man was stopped several times on the way out of the bar by well-wishers wanting to tell him they were backing him in the next Wizarding Election. Harry quickly made his way to the bar where Ginny stood.

"What have you got there?" He asked her.

"Tom said it was called Butterbeer. It's nice - really warms you up in this cold bar."

Tom, seeing Harry looking inquisitively at the glass of frothy drink, pulled on his expertise as a barman and withdrew another bottle from under the counter, filling a second glass. "Here you are, Mr Potter." He said discreetly, pushing the glass over. Harry took a sip, and realised Ginny was right - it did warm you up well. "I was just telling your lady friend here that most parents won't buy this for their kids, and teenagers find out about it from Madam Rosmerta when they visit the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade their third year."

He made a move off to the other end of the counter, where another patron had called for some service. Harry and Ginny quickly polished off the remaining butterbeer, then Harry waved Tom back to them.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Don't you worry Mr Potter, you both looked parched and I'm glad I could help. They were on the house."

When it looked like Harry was about to protest, Ginny placed her hand on his arm to stop him. Harry let out a breath. "Thank you Tom."

"Don't mention it. Is there anything else I can be doing for the two of you?"

"Yes actually. Can we have two singles please, adjacent."

"Okay, room 11 and 12. How long will you be staying?"

"Until the first of September, when we head back to Hogwarts."

Tom handed over two keys, and wrote down the details in a ledger that magically appeared on the counter. He called to a hunchback in the corner to take their luggage up. Harry and Ginny followed behind, Harry entering room 12 and Ginny room 11.

* * *

When the hunchback had left, Harry twirled his wand to expand the single bed to a double, and then created a door in the wall between the rooms.

"Now no one need know about our arrangements." Harry said, peaking through the newly created door.

Ginny looked up, startled, then smiled when she saw him. She headed over to the door and through into his room, shutting it behind her. "I'll leave my stuff in there - makes it less obvious." She said in way of explaining the lack of luggage she'd brought through.

It was another hot night, so Harry stripped off his jeans and t-shirt, leaving him in just his boxers. Ginny caught his t-shirt, turned, then replaced hers with the one she'd just caught, before pulling down her jeans too. His t-shirt on her came down to mid-thigh. Harry's breath caught in his throat when she turned back around. "You look beautiful." He told her passionately, taking her in his arms.

"Mmm, this t-shirt smells just like you." She replied, snuggling her face into his chest. "I like it." He pulled her over to the bed, not breaking their embrace, then lay down, tugging her in to bed next to him.

"What did Fudge want to speak to you about?" Ginny inquired.

"He decided it was his job to tell me the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad found Aunt Marge and popped her back to normal size."

"Popped?" Ginny exclaimed. "What did they use - a pin?"

"I have no idea. Apparently as it was accidental, I'm not being punished. He said I could stay here the rest of the summer, so long as I don't leave the Leaky Cauldron or Diagon Alley."

"What - they've got you under house arrest?" Ginny asked, outraged.

"Pretty much, I guess. It isn't so bad, I still get to spend my time with my beautiful wife." Ginny blushed at this. She wasn't used to anyone, let alone Harry, thinking she was beautiful. "Oddly, he never mentioned you. I don't think he knew you'd been staying with me, which is good."

"What - you're afraid of people finding out we're together?" She asked cheekily.

"Not at all!" Harry hastened to reassure her. "But our living arrangements this summer don't need to be a matter of public knowledge and debate, and you know the Minister for Magic would just love to have something like that to hold over me."

"I guess that's true." Ginny conceded. "But eventually everyone will have to find out about our relationship. I'm not staying away from you at all."

"I know - I wouldn't be able to manage that either, but I would like to keep it away from your mum a little while longer."

"At least we're agreed on that. Now lie down, I'm tired, and I need a pillow."

"Your wish is my command, my fair lady." Harry said jokingly. Ginny pushed him down, then settled he head on his chest, fiery red hair splaying out across him, and her right arm across his stomach. Harry wrapped both his arms round her, pulling her to him, and gave her a light kiss on the top of her head, before they fell asleep in a comfortable embrace.

* * *

Needless to say, Ron wasn't very happy about Ginny's response.

"How could he be treating her well, he's got her all to himself!" He raged to Charlie. The other brothers had taken Ginny's note to mean all was fine, and were now perfectly happy. They trusted Ginny, it was as simple as that. It was only the two of them left. He knew he was overreacting, and didn't think this was a normal way for a thirteen year old to act, but he couldn't help it. Something was overriding his common sense. Besides, surely if Charlie felt the same way, his feelings on the matter were justified?

Ron was confused. When he'd headed off to Hogwarts, his brothers had told him to protect Ginny. At the time he'd thought that had meant from boys. He was even more inclined to follow through with that plan now, having seen where ignoring her got her the previous year. So when he'd become friends with Harry Potter, he'd known immediately that he would be a threat to that plan - Ginny was enamoured with him. That was why he'd spent two years brainwashing Harry into seeing Ginny as a sister, and it clearly hadn't worked. Somehow, he had failed in his duty to protect Ginny, especially from Harry. Harry was a great friend, but his brothers had said to protect her from any boys. On the other hand, the letter could have meant that he was treating her well as a sister. There was nothing he could really do until he next saw the two of them.

* * *

Fred and George were incredibly happy with the response to their letter. Their sister had a pranking history just as large as their's. While every plank at the Burrow had been blamed on themselves, the Masters of Mayhem, they knew that at least half of them were actually Ginny's masterminds, and as much as it pained them to admit it, they were tons better than their own. Yet somehow she had managed to maintain the illusion of "perfect little princess" to their parents - while Fred and George liked to be known for their pranks, most pranksters didn't, and Ginny had that down to a tee. No one they knew had lasted for as long as she had without being caught once.

And this mystery helper. Who was it? They had a good idea, but it seemed as though it would have to wait until the train to school. It sounded like Ginny wasn't happy with Ron - the great git. He didn't seem to understand not interfering in anyone else's lives. And Charlie joining in - Charlie had always been on Ginny's side, and for all they knew may even have helped her with a few pranks. Maybe their interference was something Mum would need to know. On the other hand, let Ginny work it out. That bat-bogey hex was vicious, and they did not envy Ron and Charlie for their possibility of being on the receiving end of it.

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Ginny headed into Diagon Alley. Hedwig had returned to them in the night, and was now in her cage at the Leaky Cauldron. Somehow, she'd known they had had to move there - that was the advantage of having a strong connection with your familiar, and said familiar being a magical owl.

Their first stop, naturally, was Gringotts, where they withdrew some money from the family vault (the trust vault had been combined with this when Harry was granted access to it). They enjoyed the ride in the carts again, especially Ginny as she was used to it now - "It's just like flying!" She had exclaimed. Harry just laughed - It was rare he got to see her so carefree, especially given the events of the previous year. They quickly stopped in to see Ragnok in his office, but he was yet to find anything new for them. They thanked him for continuing to look, as they were sure he had lots of other things to do as well.

Before they left the bank, they donned a black cloak each. They had found them in the family vault, with a tag that simply read concealment. There were several others in the pile, that seemed to be of different variations, but these appeared to be the simplest, with only one spell. It was also detailed on the tag - operuit caligo. They cast the spell, and the area underneath the hoods became shrouded in darkness. When they spoke, their voices were magically altered too. It wasn't much, and if you were trying to hear a certain person then you would notice them, but for the normal passerby it would be enough to trick them.

Next, they headed over to Magical Menagerie, where Harry bought some owl treats for Hedwig. There was not an easy way to access these once at Hogwarts, so they would have to last the entire year.

Their next shop was Quality Quidditch Supplies, where they both fawned over the new Firebolt, with the best top-end specs, and Ginny bought some Quidditch gear. She had hopes for making the Quidditch team while at Hogwarts. Harry knew it was a lifelong dream of hers to play for the all-witch Quidditch Team the Holyead Harpies, and that she would have a much better chance had she played a few years at Hogwarts. That was why he was secretly planning on asking Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Captain, to consider hosting a full reserve team for the coming year. He was confident that Oliver would like it - the fanatical Quidditch player was heading into his final year and would want the cup more than ever, and with the number of injuries Harry inadvertently sustained even just a reserve seeker would be a good idea.

Harry was happy that he was managing to get her to loosen up and spend as much as she wanted, as he had more than he would ever need in his multiple vaults. He no longer wanted her to be limited in what she bought, or picked on because of it - she was too good and kind to deserve that.

After an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, they headed to Flourish and Blotts. As soon as they entered, a hassled looking person came up to them. His magically altering name tag switched from his name to his position, indicating him to be the manager of the Diagon Alley branch. "Hogwarts?" He asked brusquely. They both nodded, and the man sighed, before gesturing to them to follow him.

They made their way to the corner of the front window, and the manager picked up a pair of tongs, throwing cautious looks at a cage. He made his way to open it, when Harry realised he recognised he Monster Book of Monsters. "Hold on, we've already got them!" He told the manager.

"Thank goodness!" He exclaimed. "My fingers have already been bitten three times today alone! I swear this is worse than when we stocked the Invisible Book of Invisibility. We bought in a hundreds of them, and couldn't ever find them. I swear I'm never stocking this book again. Oh no stop it!" He added on the end, turning back to the cage. Two of the books had started fighting, and a third had jumped on top to get in on the action, while another two started tearing pages out of the first three. Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance, then moved away, smiling sympathetically at the man as a mother and child came forward cautiously, no doubt to ask for one of the deadly books.

They headed over to the rest of the store, and found all the other books they needed: The Standard Book of Spells Year 3, Magical Arithmancy Basics, Ancient Runes: First Dictionary, Intermediate Transfiguration, Numerology and Gramatica, Ancient Runes Made Easy and The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts. Ginny winced when she looked over the list. It was a good thing Harry was buying her school equipment and textbooks this year. While the Defence Against the Dark Arts texts Lockhart had written and then set were still worse, this was not a cheap booklist - the Ancient Runes Dictionary alone was rather expensive.

Finally, Harry pulled Ginny into Ollivanders, asking for a wand for her. "No Harry, you've already done enough." She tried protesting. "My old wand works for me. A new one would be too expensive."

"I'm not sure about that." Harry said. "Ollivander told me when I got my wand that the wand chooses the wizard, or in your case, the witch. Your own wand would work much better."

"Quite right, Mr Potter." The old wizard appeared behind the counter and wheezed at them. "Holly and Phoenix Feather, 11 inches, a mysterious combination but still, how is it working for you? And a pleasure to meet you young Ms Weasley, I had expected you last year but better late than never." He bustled off into the back room without waiting for Harry to answer.

"But still, you shouldn't pay for it. They're expensive and I can't ask you for that." Ginny argued.

"That's OK, I'm not going to pay for it."

"Then who is?" She asked.

"You are." Harry responded with a cheeky grin, pushing the golden coins she would need into her hand. "After all, it is your money too." He whispered to her, as he dropped a kiss on her forehead and pulled back.

Soon Mr Ollivander returned with several boxes. He lay them on the counter, then removed the wand from the first one and handed it to Ginny. "Unicorn Hair and Ash, quite brittle. Give it a wave."

Out of arguments, Ginny had no choice but to follow instructions. After all, it was technically her money too. She swung the wand slightly to the left, then jumped back, startled to see a fire burst out of the cash register.

"Oh no, that won't do at all!" Ollivander exclaimed. "How about this one..."

Ginny tried several more sets of wands that Ollivander picked out, getting more worried as time passed. However, the old man just seemed to get more excited. "I do love a good challenge." He wheezed.

"Don't worry, it took me a long time to find one too." Harry reassured her.

Eventually, when it seemed like Ginny had tried half the store, Mr Ollivander paused in taking a wand off of a shelf, and placed it back. "I wonder..." He muttered. Collecting another wand, he brought it to the counter and placed it in Ginny's hand. As soon as she closed her fingers around it, a shower of golden sparks flew out of the tip, and fluttered down to the floor around her.

"Interesting, but not unexpected given the circumstances." He muttered.

"Urgh, why foes he always have to be so cryptic?" Harry whispered to Ginny, rhetorically. She giggled in response.

"Um, Mr Ollivander?" She piped up. "What's this wand made of?"

"That wand consists of the other half of the Holly limb that became Mr Potter's wand, infused with some shavings of bark from a rather interesting magical Yew that one can rarely get close to. The core consists of a Unicorn Hair, intertwined with a hair from a rather outgoing Demiguise. I find that Demiguise and Unicorn hair tend to make for a rather volatile combination, and that mixing two different woods together doesn't normally work, but my curiosity in wand-making got the better of me recently and I decided I had to try. What is interesting, is that this wand was about to combust from the magical power it contained, until Fawkes appeared and blessed it with Phoenix tears. It is 9 and a half inches long, and rather pliant."

"Why is it unexpected that this would work for me?" She questioned.

"Why, that is one powerful wand, Ms Weasley." He indicated the wand with a faltering hand. "I had not expected to be able to sell it, but it is fitting that it chose you, given your emotional connection to Mr Potter. After all, it is connected to his wand in more than one way. That is a powerful wand, Ms Weasley, so it is fitting that the seventh child, the first girl in seven generations, is who your wand has chosen. I believe we can expect great things from you... Mrs Potter."

Both Harry and Ginny started. "What do you mean by that?" Harry asked.

"I can see the soul-bond you have. I am an aura-reader. It is a rare ability, but rather helpful in my line of work, to match wands with their user. I know what a soul-bond looks like. Do not worry, I will keep your secret for you. The wand is seven galleons."

"Thank you, Mr Ollivander. We aren't ready for that to get out just yet." Harry said, as Ginny quickly paid him the required amount. "Do you have any wand-holsters?" He asked, spur of the moment. Ginny looked at him curiously. "I just feel like I'd be better off if we were to have quicker access to our wands." He explained nervously.

"I sell two types of holster. One, cut to the length of the wand, which is made of leather. These are 8 sickles each. The other is the size of your wrist, contains a shrinking charm to shrink your wand when you place it in the holster, allows you to flick your wand into your hand, contains charms against summoning of the holster, or any that will damage it, and is made of dragon hide. These are 1 galleon each."

"We'll take two of the dragon hide ones please." Harry said, handing over the money. Ginny just kept quiet - she was smart enough to realise that Harry was going to buy her one, no matter what she said. Truthfully, it warmed her slightly to think that he was willing to do anything that could make her safer, especially now they had heard the prophecy.

"Thank you." Mr Ollivander said as they left his shop.

* * *

They spent the rest of the summer in the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. Minister Fudge had kept the information of Harry's accommodation private, "to keep it from Sirius Black." He had claimed. He hadn't known that Ginny was with him, so saw no need to inform the Weasleys.

Harry had received a reply from Hagrid their second day there:

 **Harry and Ginny,**

 **I can't wait to hear your secret.**

 **About the books, just stroke the spine and they'll let you in fine. I don't know why no one seems to know, I guess Flourish and Blotts weren't told.**

 **Hagrid**

The final Monday of August saw the Weasleys and Grangers on their annual trip to Diagon Alley. Harry and Ginny had received a letter from her parents the previous day, asking if they would be able to be there, and had replied with a very carefully worded letter saying they had already been, and wouldn't be able to get away that day. They had then spoken to Tom the barman, and asked him not to tell anyone they were staying there. He was happy to agree - Customer Privacy was high on his list of priorities.

They waited in Harry's room, looking out the window, which overlooked the entrance to Diagon Alley. Soon, they spotted five red blobs, a brown blob, and two other blobs through the dirty, smeared window. The blobs were quickly identified by the onlookers as Mrs Weasley, Percy, Fred, Charlie, Ron, Hermione and Mr and Mrs Granger. They watched as Mrs Weasley took out her wand, and tapped the bricks to open the entrance.

"Dad's not with them. He must be busy with work. It's unlike him to miss a trip to Diagon Alley. I suppose that's why he wrote to say he wouldn't be able to visit us again. I think this is the first time I've been happy that Dad is finished with work." Ginny idly commented.

Once the eight below had disappeared through the wall, and it had sealed behind them, Harry and Ginny quickly headed downstairs and out the other way from the Leaky Cauldron, into Muggle London.

"Fudge better not have any tracking charms on me." Harry muttered.

Ginny had clearly heard. "Well this is a sure-fire way to find out, but I should hope he doesn't, it is illegal. Where would our country be if our illustrious Minister himself stooped so low as to stalk a thirteen year old boy through illegal means?"

"How do you say that with a straight face?" Harry asked laughing.

"I guess through years of lying about my involvement in pranks." Ginny started giggling. "Most of what I said is true. This is a way to find out and it is illegal, but I wouldn't put it past Fudge to try anyway. We should look for a way to counteract that - I'm sure Dumbledore would have no reservations about doing it to try and track us to keep us apart."

"I should hope he wouldn't." Harry said darkly. "Oh well, just another thing to look up in the wonderful Hogwarts library when I, no we," he quickly corrected, "get back to school."

Ginny smiled up at him cutely. "So what are we doing in Muggle London?" She asked.

Harry paused for a moment, and just stared at her. Just as it was beginning to get uncomfortable for her, he shook his head, trying to clear whatever thoughts he'd just been having. "Sorry, I got distracted by how cute you looked there." Ginny blushed bright Weasley red. "I thought you might want a few new muggle clothes. I need some too - I'm tired of wearing Dudley's cast-off's, and I thought this would be easier, and keep us out of the Alley for the day, rather than look for some in Diagon Alley."

"Good idea!" Ginny said appreciatively, her blush dying down. "I know my clothes are getting too small - they're a few years old now. And you definitely need some that fit you." She commented, not unkindly. Then she seemed to realise what she had said and looked aghast. "Oh I didn't mean it like that..."

"Its OK Ginny, I know what you meant. I'm pleased you think I'm worth spending time shopping for."

"Of course I do - how could I not. Now lets find your clothes first." They headed over to the first store they saw.

For the next few hours, they visited most of the stores in the close vicinity of the Leaky Cauldron. After finding several pairs of jeans and other trousers, as well as t-shirts, long sleeved shirts and a few jumpers for Harry, they started finding Ginny clothes. Harry pointed out a changing room to her, which she made use of to model most her choices for Harry, and get his opinion. She left weighed down with some new blouse and skirt combinations, and also some jeans, t-shirts and jumpers. They headed to a nearby shoe-shop to get some pairs of trainers, before returning to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was glad that Ginny was starting to loosen up on spending money again, after the incident in Ollivanders, having spent a few days in Diagon Alley.

At the door, they quickly donned their privacy cloaks and activated the concealment charm before entering the bar. It was lucky they did this, as the moment they entered, Harry noticed Mrs Weasley preceding her sons back in from the Alley, and towards the fireplace. Harry and Ginny quickly made their way over to the staircase and up it towards their rooms, and heard in the background five voices each say in turn "The Burrow!", followed by a swoosh of flames. Ginny turned to watch, and was sure she saw one of the twins wink in her general direction while Mrs Weasley wasn't looking, just as he disappeared. She quickly turned and hurried after Harry up the stairs, hoping no one else had noticed.

* * *

Each night, Harry and Ginny separated at their doors into their own rooms for show. Ten minutes later, after they had both changed and got ready for bed, Ginny would head through to Harry's room where he held her as she fell asleep, before dropping off himself.

On the 30th August, they tried sleeping in separate beds. Neither youngster was thrilled with the idea - in fact they were both positively dreading it, but they knew it was necessary - it wouldn't be so easy for them to share a bed at Hogwarts, especially if Dumbledore was involved. For several hours, both Ginny and Harry were kept awake by tossing and turning, and in the few minutes of sleep they did get, they both had nightmares worse than before, until Harry decided she needed him, and he needed her, more than trying to sleep on their own. They concluded that their sleeping together over the summer had just caused them to become so accustomed to the lack of nightmares that they were a lot worse now than they had been. They would just have to find a way to share a bed at Hogwarts.

They also kept in contact as much as possible, not just because they liked to, but also so that if anyone recognised them that knew about the bond, if they forgot their cloaks, or passed information on to someone who did, it would seem uncompleted still. It wouldn't be hard to pass off their presence in the Alley as last minute back to school shopping, and there were plenty of people who should have considered cover stories for why they were together and unsupervised at their ages.

So it was that on the first of September, they arrived at platform nine and three-quarters at half past ten, before anyone else, holding hands. They got under their invisibility cloak (Harry's, but he was encouraging Ginny to think of anything as theirs, given they were married), and entered the train behind Fred and George, when they arrived with the rest of the Weasley's the prerequisite five minutes before the train left. Pulling them under the magical cloak as well, the now quartet headed for the rear compartment. After an initial moment of surprise, the twins worked out what had happened, and it wasn't long before a rhythm was made with stepping, as they were packed rather tightly together under the cloak. As they entered the compartment, Fred and George cast some privacy and silencing charms on it, that they had learnt as pranksters, while Harry and Ginny surveyed the sole other occupant, who was asleep on the bench to the right of the door, sitting up but leaning against the window. Sitting down, Fred asked, "Who do you think he is?"

"Professor R J Lupin. Says so on his trunk." George replied, pointing.

"Lupin?" Harry muttered to Ginny. "Could be a coincidence, but its not that common a name."

"Guess we should look into it."

At that moment, the train jolted into motion, puffing out of the station. While Fred conjured some curtains across the window to keep themselves hidden, Ginny wasn't quite prepared for the sudden movement. She started falling over, right into Harry's well placed lap, where he was sitting next to the window across from the Professor. His arms automatically came up around her.

"Well hello there." Harry said. "You know if you wanted to sit on me all you had to do was ask."

"This was more fun - and good catch by the way!" Ginny replied cheekily. She wiggled slightly to get comfortable. "Mmm, comfy lap. Besides, you shouldn't be complaining."

"I'm not, i'm perfectly happy for you to remain there for the rest of this journey." He pecked her on the head.

"Well then, I rather think I will Mr Potter." Ginny quipped. She turned around, so her back was against the conjured curtains, and leant her head into Harry's chest. He brought up a hand to tangle slightly in her fiery hair.

Meanwhile, the twin pranksters exchanged a glance - did they know this stranger? 'Best to steer this conversation onto topics we're comfortable with' Fred thought.

Noticing a lull in Harry and Ginny's conversation, he broke in. "You said you were willing to help us prank this year Ginny."

"Yep, with Harry as well."

"Thought it might be." George input. Then to Harry, "Any experience?"

"Well, there is a long story, so sit down and be prepared. Over the summer, as you know, Ginny was staying with me. What you don't know is why. Very few people do. Only Dumbledore, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and a goblin do. Oh, and Ollivander. But he's a different reason. We want to tell you and Hagrid, and possibly Professor McGonagall if necessary, but no one else for now."

"Not even Ron or Hermione?" Fred asked.

"Maybe Hermione if she doesn't side with Ron, but given what I have surveyed over the last two years that is unlikely. Ron has made it very clear he didn't approve of Ginny even being in the same house as me this summer."

"What have you observed?"

"I believe, but might be wrong, that Hermione has a crush on Ron."

"Ooh, juicy blackmail!" George said. "We can use that later. So what is this secret?"

"Ginny and I had to stay in contact this summer as much as possible. That was why she was with me. Yes, even in bed." He added, to the questioning looks on the twins faces. "This going to be a problem?"

"Oh no, you're the only person we trust with our sister. We know she's safe with you. We don't even trust ourselves - look at where our pranking gets us!"

"Thank you boys." Ginny said sweetly, smiling serenely at them.

"So why the need for contact?" Fred asked.

"Dumbledore mentioned a bond in the progress of completion. It was only a few days into summer that we found out what it was. The manager of Gringotts, Ragnok, sent us a letter, inviting us to see him. He is the goblin who knows. Apparently, on the 1st July this summer, we completed a soul bond. You sure you're okay about me and Ginny being together?" He asked uncertainly.

"Positive."

"Absolutely."

"Good. As Harry seems to be scared of what you might do to him, I'll continue." Ginny said, pushing on his chest to sit up slightly. "The bond had to be completed with an act of true love. In our case, our first kiss."

"I can see why he's concerned."

"Yep. Don't worry Harry, we won't hurt you."

"Thanks guys." Harry said, relief evident in his voice. "But it gets more interesting. Ragnok had lots of information about the bond. Apparently, it affords us full majority thus allowing access to my vaults and breaking the trace."

"Why does it do that?"

"Because, it means we are married." Ginny said.

"Oh."

"That's going a bit far."

"But I still don't think physical violence is necessary."

"No."

"We may just need a little chat with our new brother in law in private later on."

"Yes, physical violence isn't necessary."

"Just pranking,"

"Possible public humiliation," Harry was starting to get scared.

"And maybe some merciless teasing."

"Don't worry Gin-Gin, we won't hurt your husband."

"But who would have thought little Ginny, youngest of seven, the baby if you will (though we shouldn't say it to her face if we value our virtue), would be the first in our family to marry."

"Cut it out boys." She growled, twirling her wand threateningly.

"All right."

"Yeah, no one wants to be on the receiving end of your bat-bogey hex."

While this was happening, Harry had paled considerably. Now he spoke up. "Okay we can chat later but now, you must know the rest of the story. We headed down to our vaults, my family one first, where we found a letter. We then went to my other one, the Gryffindor Vault. I could enter. I am the true heir of Gryffindor."

"Well there's a bombshell."

"That chat might not be necessary."

"No, nor public humiliation."

"No, Ginny is probably safe."

"But what's to stop some pranking?"

"Or merciless teasing?"

"Nothing at all, my wonderful brother."

"We'll have to consider that."

"I do so like the way you think."

"Boys! Concentrate!" Ginny said.

Harry continued. "We also found a letter here. This one mentioned a secret room in Hogwarts with his portrait. We are going there tomorrow after lessons, then we'll take you next time. The letter in my parents vault, was from my mum, but had some parts from dad. He said he wanted me to 'continue his marauder pranking legacy'. We were wondering if you knew anything about them."

At the word 'marauder', Fred and George shared a glance. Adding a few more privacy charms to the door and window, Fred said, "What do you know about the marauders?"

"Nothing, but it seems my dad was one."

"This is a little secret of ours, the secret to our success." George continued, pulling out a piece of parchment. "A little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." The man at the window stirred a little at the name Moony, but stayed asleep. Fred tapped it with his wand and muttered, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Lines started drawing across it, creating a map of Hogwarts. At the top it read,

 **The Marauders Map**

 **Created by Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs**

"Wow, they must have been good, to have this." Harry commented.

"It gets better. When the school is occupied, all live beings are marked on the map, moving in time with where they are in the castle. Also, it will give you the password to any restricted area."

"No wonder you can pull off pranks flawlessly." Ginny said.

"We stole it from Filch in our first year. Didn't have a clue who the four of them were, but I guess one was your dad Harry."

"I may have more of an idea, but we'll need to be even more private." Harry replied, gesturing to the sleeping adult in the corner. "I'm not sure if we can definitely trust him. Also, at school Ginny and I will be dating, but we are going to try and avoid anything about our marriage getting out."

"Sensible."

"I concur." Harry and Ginny just laughed at the formal front the twins were putting on, they knew it was there way of being serious for once without sounding too much like it.

Soon the snack lady came by, and the four started planning pranks they could pull for the next year. Harry also remembered to tell Fred and George about how to open the Monster Book of Monsters - "You just need to stroke the spine."

"Oh of course!"

"We should have thought of that."

"The spine makes perfect sense!"

"Wonder who set a monster book?"

"Wouldn't have been Kettleburn, but I didn't think she was planning on retiring."

Harry cut in. "We got them as gifts from Hagrid, so he must have known we would need them. We can ask him who set them when we next see him."

"A wonderful idea!"

* * *

Nearer the end of the journey, about thirty minutes out of Hogsmeade Station, on a long sweeping viaduct, the train stopped. As one, the lights flickered out, plunging the train into darkness, and the windows started frosting up.

"I'm going to ask the driver what is happening." George said, however no sooner had he reached the door, than a cloaked figure appeared outside it. It reached a spidery hand out, pushing the door open, yet somehow never seemed to make contact with it. George was pushed back into his seat by a mysterious invisible force.

"Quiet!" Barked a hoarse voice from the rear of the compartment.

Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. Harry could hear movements in the corner. None of them spoke.

By this point, the cloaked figure had opened the door. Its hood covered its face completely, much like the magical cloaks that he and Ginny had used over the summer.. Harry's eyes darted downwards, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.

And then it drew in a startling, rattling, deep breath, that seemed to freeze the compartment. Harry started drowning in cold. Far away, he could hear someone screaming. He wanted to help them, but couldn't move from a thick white fog. It swirled around him, inside him...

* * *

When she saw her husband collapse to the floor, Ginny started getting extremely worried. While she had no doubts that something out to hurt them could not have gotten on the train, Harry had come to be a sort of saviour for her. As independent as she was, her previous year had severely knocked her confidence. Him not being able to protect himself, let alone her, made her worry more.

As the creature drew closer, she started feeling colder, and memories of the chamber started flashing through her mind. Memories better off not relived. She started shaking and shivering, and curled up, trying to protect herself in some way from the memories.

The Professor who had until recently been asleep, stood up, and taking a step towards the creature, said "None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks."

When it still didn't leave, but continued closer to Harry, he waved his wand in an intricate pattern and muttered something under his breath, that none of the compartment's occupants could hear. A white image appeared out the end of his wand, pushing the creature back, but Ginny was drowning in too many memories to see what it was.

As soon as the creature left, warmth starting seeping back into the compartment as the frost retreated, allowing Ginny to regain control of her body and temporarily push the memories from her mind. She knelt next to her unconscious husband, and started trying to wake him up.

* * *

"Harry! Harry! Are you alright?"

Someone was slapping his face.

"W-what?"

Harry opened his eyes. There were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking, showing that the Hogwarts Express had started moving. Ginny was kneeling next to him, with Professor Lupin standing over them and the twins sitting on one of the benches in the compartment.

He pulled himself back onto a seat, with Ginny next to him. She wrapped her arms around him.

"What was that? What happened? Who screamed?"

"No one screamed." Fred said.

Professor Lupin spoke up. "That was a dementor. Here, eat this, it will help." He said as he broke up a large chunk of chocolate. He handed it to each of them. Then, as if to demonstrate, ate some himself.

"Nastily vile creatures. Guards of Azkaban. Looking for Sirius Black. They suck all the positive thoughts out of you, leaving you with your worst memories, and force you to relive them every second you are near one. Excuse me, I must talk to the driver." He left the compartment.

"But didn't any of you fall off your seats?" Harry asked awkwardly.

Ginny answered. "No. And nobody could hear any screaming. But you heard what Professor Lupin said. And you probably have the worst memories out of all of us."

"I guess so. But I don't know where it was from."

"Ginny was pretty bad too." George spoke up. "Shaking like mad. Guess they were from the end of last year..." He trailed off.

"Yeah. Being in Harry's arms helps keep nightmares away, but nothing can get rid of memories."

"Its the same for me. Sleeping with Ginny in my arms keeps away nightmares, and now trying to sleep on my own they return worse than ever." The twins looked solemn at that pronouncement.

They didn't talk much the remainder of the way to the castle.


	12. Lessons Begin at the Castle

**A/N** \- Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I have just been away camping for two weeks and so was unable to do any writing or editing. The next one will most likely be another long wait, as I am yet to finish writing it, and I am away again on holiday next week - Yes, I have reached the point where the story is not completely pre-written! Anyway, here is the next chapter, please leave a review, as it makes the writing worth it! (Disclaimer in Chapter 1)

 **Chapter 12 - Lessons Begin at the Castle**

In the carriage up to Hogwarts, Harry asked the twins, "Can you keep what happened on the train a secret please? I don't want to be seen as fragile."

"Sure."

"We can understand..."

"...Why you don't want people to know..."

"...Namely Malfoy?"

"Him, and some other Slytherins." Harry confirmed - after the train journey he was getting used to the twins' double speech and had worked out not to follow who was speaking - it would just hurt his head.

"Your secret is safe with us."

They got out of the carriage, and had just entered the entrance hall, when Professor McGonagall asked Harry to head to her office immediately.

Pulling Ginny with him, he headed towards his Head-of-House's office.

"She didn't ask to see me Harry, I should get to the Great Hall." Ginny commented.

Harry leaned down to whisper in her ear, his breath blowing a few strands of her hair lightly. "No Ginny, remember Dumbledore doesn't think our bond has completed yet, so we want to keep him ignorant a while longer. To do that we need to stay in contact."

"That makes sense, I'd completely forgotten! But you're going to explain to Professor McGonagall."

"Of course love." Harry commented with a soft chuckle.

After waiting for a few minutes, the Transfiguration teacher arrived with Hermione in tow. ' _So much for avoiding Ron and Hermione completely'_ Harry thought. Hermione just gave them a confused look as Professor McGonagall ushered them into her office, closing the door behind them then taking her seat.

"Miss Weasley, I don't remember inviting you to this meeting."

"That's OK Professor, I asked her to join me." Harry spoke up.

"Oh, what made you think you could do such a thing Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly.

"There's a very good reason Professor, and Professor Dumbledore knows of it, but we'll tell you another time. It's a long story." This only served to intrigue Hermione even more.

"Fair enough, but it better be a good explanation, although as I'm only talking about you for now its your own look out. Anyway Mr Potter, Professor Lupin owled ahead to say you were taken ill on the train."

"I'm fine, and I would appreciate it if that was kept a secret."

"Understood - I can see where _you_ particularly might not appreciate having something like that getting around. Only those in this room, those who were present, Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey will know." At this moment, the resident matron herself bustled in, and started breaking up a chunk of chocolate, all the while muttering about how unsafe it was to have dementors near the school.

"Um, Madam Pomfrey?" Harry spoke up, hesitantly. It was well known that the matron didn't like being interrupted when working on a patient. "I'm fine. Professor Lupin gave me some chocolate on the train."

"Finally a Defence teacher who knows Defence." She exclaimed in relief. "Alright, you're cleared to go now. Goodness knows its not worth my while trying to get you up to the Hospital Wing for the night."

"Okay, Mr Potter, Miss Weasley, you may head to the feast. I need to speak to Miss Granger about her timetable." Professor McGonagall said.

* * *

Harry and Ginny arrived at the feast just as Professor Flitwick removed the Sorting Hat from the hall. Clearly he had carried out the sorting where the Deputy Headmistress was unable to. Hermione strangely arrived moments later, despite the fact that as they closed the door to the office when leaving it looked to be that a long conversation would be starting. Finding Fred and George, they took two spare seats next to the twin pranksters and settled in to eat. Fred and George had clearly saved them two spaces, and together they had filled the space around them with friends from fifth year, and some of Ginny's from second year to prevent Ron and Hermione sitting near them, understanding that Harry didn't want to deal with them just yet. Unfortunately, this included Colin Creevey, who wanted to talk to Harry a lot. This made Ginny slightly annoyed, however unfairly, that her second-year friends were sitting around them, as she could see the discomfort on Harry's face at the conversations throughout the feast, and she had wanted to talk to her husband herself anyway.

After the feast, Dumbledore stood and raised his hands calmly. The hall quickly quietened as every face turned towards him and he started his traditional announcements.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become too tired."

Uncharacteristically seriously for the start of term announcements, and with the usual twinkle absent from his blue eyes, the Headmaster started his first announcement. "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business. They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even invisibility cloaks." He added blandly, pointedly looking at Harry.

"It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to Prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs foul of the Dementors. To this extent, I am happy to announce our Head Boy and Girl this year, Mr Percy Weasley from Gryffindor and Miss Penelope Clearwater from Ravenclaw. I ask our younger students to ask them for help if necessary, or to find a prefect, of which there are six in each house." At this, Percy puffed out his chest.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. Firstly, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was some scattered applause, only Fred, George, Ginny and Harry were clapping enthusiastically. Most people looked uncertainly at the Professor in his ragged clothes, not sure whether the Headmaster was joking or not.

"Look at Snape!" Ginny hissed urgently at Harry. Snape was looking particularly annoyed at Professor Lupin, and it seemed to be for something more than him taking the DADA post from him again. The greasy-haired professor was positively glaring at Professor Lupin.

Dumbledore continued, "As to our second new appointment, well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this position in addition to his gamekeeping duties." Once again, this announcement was met by a scattering of applause, again heavy from Harry, Ginny, Fred and George, and slightly more could be heard from some of the other Gryffindors, Ron and Hermione included, but they seemed to not want to stand out so much. Almost no applause came from the Slytherin table, who were looking exceedingly confused, and staring at Dumbledore as if he'd grown a second head.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance, now off to bed."

Harry and Ginny stood up and headed straight for Hagrid, against the crowd heading for the doors. In the background the fifth year prefects could be heard calling for first years to follow them to the dormitories.

"Congratulations Hagrid. Now I understand the book assignment!" Harry said, when they had reached the half-giant.

"Thank you. it's all I ever wan'ed, you know, fancy me, a teacher, eh?" Turning, he dabbed his eyes with an oversized handkerchief, and started towards the door. Harry and Ginny followed just behind him.

He left the hall ahead of them, just as Dumbledore caught up. "Mr Potter, Ms Weasley, please head to my office. I will be there shortly. I am rather partial to Lemon Drops." With that, he followed Hagrid to the grand doors leading out to the grounds.

"Why would we need to know that he is partial to Lemon Drops?" Ginny asked. "He can't be expecting us to bring him any, he shouldn't even be asking to speak to us in person."

"I think the Lemon Drops comment must have been a hint to the password, he seems to like using sweets. But I agree - he shouldn't have any need to speak to us, it should go to Professor McGonagall first.

Confused, they headed up the grand staircase and along the corridor to the gargoyle. It took some time, because none of the staircases were on the side of the castle they wanted, so they had to wait for some to move before continuing to the sixth floor, where the entrance to Dumbledore's office was.

"Lemon Drops." Harry calmly stated. The gargoyle slowly and steadily bowed his head, then moved back and started twisting clockwise. Harry and Ginny stepped onto the staircase, and waited for it to carry them to the top. Once there, they entered the office and settled into an obviously out-of-place comfy couch in front of his desk to wait.

* * *

The Great Albus Dumbledore was worried. The silver device monitoring Harry and Ginny's bond had not gone off all summer, which in his mind was good, as it was yet to mess up his plans for Harry's future, but that and the fact that they had remained in contact for the whole feast made it difficult for living arrangements. He could of course hope that his device hadn't worked, and that no-one knew the bond had completed. It was time for a short trip to the Ministry.

He strode purposefully down a lesser used corridor on the lowest floor of the Ministry of Magic to the Department of Mysteries. Any normal witch or wizard would never have been allowed to enter, but Dumbledore was far from normal. Not least was it generally regarded that he was the greatest wizard alive, but also he happened to be on rather good and friendly terms with the head witch of the Department, who was happy to allow him access to the Hall of Records with the requirement that he wasn't to leave the room without her. In no time he had found the book he needed.

 _ **1992  
**_ _ **Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley  
**_ _ **Soul Bond  
**_ _ **Started: 27th June 1992  
**_ _ **Completed: 1st July 1992**_

He couldn't comprehend why his device didn't activate, but at least they could go back to separate beds. He had no need to mess around with living arrangements or extra secrets. And it would make Arthur and Molly happier as well, knowing their daughter no longer required contact with another boy in order to live. Of course, this did make it much harder to keep them apart. The bond, while removing the need for contact after a few minutes, did create an urge for it in the pair. It would not be necessary, but craved after a few hours apart. They would want to stay together as much as possible. But Dumbledore couldn't allow for that to happen - Harry needed to focus on his destiny, without the distraction of a romantic entanglement. A love potion would be in order the next morning to distract the boy from his bond-mate.

Returning to his office, he found Harry sitting on the sofa he had created earlier in front of his desk, with Ginny curled up in his lap rather than using the second half of the sofa, and his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Good evening, Mr Potter, Miss Weasley." He started, as he exited the floo. "I have just visited the Ministry and found information pertaining to the fact that your bond was completed at the start of July. Unfortunately, I have no idea why I was not informed and didn't find out about this. I take it you were unaware of this development."

"We had no idea it had completed." Harry replied. "We had to stay in contact all summer." It was a lie, but Dumbledore didn't know that, and he wasn't too trusting of the Headmaster nowadays. He plastered a look of surprise on his face, as did Ginny.

"Okay. I can see it is just as much of a surprise to you as it is too me. Well now it is complete the need for contact should have dissolved somewhat. I presume you wouldn't know as you have been staying in contact as much as possible anyway. As it is complete, you will return to your dorms. You should be able to survive the night now without contact. Miss Weasley, due to your advancing a year you will now be in the third year dorms with your new year-mates. Speaking of which, are your parents aware of you moving up a year?"

"Not yet." Ginny responded, somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't want them to prevent me moving up a year, after what happened last year."

"Understandable. However, they cannot do anything about it now, but must still be informed. I will journey to the Burrow and tell them myself in the morning. It will be nice to sample some of Molly Weasley's excellent cooking once again. I wish you luck in your studies and hope you succeed in moving up a year. Goodnight."

Recognising the dismissal for what it was, Harry and Ginny stood as one and left the office, hand in hand. They soon reached the common room, as it was only one floor up and the stairs were behaving this time. Harry stopped by the stairs to the dorms, and giving Ginny a kiss, said, "Goodnight Love, see you in the morning."

They went upstairs to their respective dormitories, luckily everyone was asleep so they were not questioned about where they had been for the hour since the feast. No one even seemed to realise they had been missing.

* * *

Later that night found Harry tossing in his bed, once more suffering nightmares about Voldemort. Having not experienced them for the whole summer, he had thought he was free at last, but this appeared to not be the case. So it was that on his first day back in Hogwarts, his 'real' home, he wasn't getting any sleep. Clearly holding Ginny in his arms was the reason he had not experienced the nightmares that summer - while it was what they had told Fred and George on the train the previous day, he hadn't been sure until now.

Meanwhile, across the tower, Ginny was having the same experience. She had started having nightmares relieving the Chamber, and what Tom had forced her to do. This resulted in her too not wanting to sleep, for fear of having more nightmares that she had been free of for the entire summer. She was also reaching the conclusion that Harry's arms had had more effect than she realised.

By 2am, she had had enough. If she couldn't sleep properly the least she could do was start on her schoolwork. Even though they hadn't had any lessons yet, she could still make use of her time by reading her textbooks, to get a head start and prove she was meant to be in third year. She grabbed the _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3_ , put on her dressing gown and made her way downstairs to the common room. Once there, she placed another log on the fire to keep it burning a while longer and curled up in the armchair closest to it, wrapping her dressing gown tightly around herself, trying to keep as warm as possible.

It wasn't long before she heard footsteps on the stairs from the boys dormitories. Turning her head, Harry came into view trudging slowly down the stairs and into the common room, also in his dressing gown and also holding the _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3_. His eyes noticeably lit up at the sight of her, but to Ginny he still looked as bad as she felt. She had long since learnt how to read his emotions from his face, as he wasn't very good at telling others how he was feeling. He had obviously been experiencing the same as her. He quickly made his way over to her and pulled her up from the armchair before sitting where she had been moments earlier. He then pulled her back into his lap and wrapped his arms round her waist, nestling his face in her sweet smelling hair. She reciprocated in kind by wrapping her arms around his neck, and they sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry spoke up.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked, lifting his head from the hair around her neck.

"Not without nightmares from the chamber. You?" She replied quietly.

"Same, but nightmares about Voldemort in general. Why are we having them now? I didn't have any for the whole summer."

"Me neither. Do you reckon it might be because of our bond, so sleeping in the same bed, in each others arms, prevents them from coming?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, but how do we share a bed at Hogwarts? Dumbledore would never allow it. You saw how pleased he was that our bond was complete, so he didn't have to sort out sleeping arrangements." Harry commented.

"Who knows. How about we just stay here tonight, and see if that portrait of Godric has any ideas tomorrow when we visit him."

"I like that idea. We just have to wake up and return to our dorms before anyone finds us, in case we have to do it again in the future. It would be best if no one knows about it. Also, I would appreciate it if we didn't give Ron even more reasons to kill me. He was glowering enough already at the feast."

"Don't worry. I won't let him hurt you." Ginny said, patting his arm lovingly, but slightly patronisingly. "But I do see the need for secrecy. If we wake up by six, no one should be down by then. The feast last night will have tired everyone out, they won't get up before they need to."

"Okay."

Ginny curled back up in Harry's lap, placing her head on his chest, and his chin rested on top of her head. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her in as tight as possible without hurting her, then enveloped her in his dressing gown with him. They soon both dropped off to sleep.

* * *

It was half five when Harry slowly regained consciousness. He sat there, still, for half an hour just watching the wonderful girl in his arms sleep peacefully. She looked so calm curled up, with nothing bothering her. This led Harry to contemplation of how they were going to share a bed at school. He had slept much better once he was holding Ginny than before, and it seemed it was better for her in his arms. He couldn't think of an obvious way for them to sleep in the same bed without anyone knowing, but knew they must if they were to get any sort of sleep for the next year.

Slowly, she also came to, yawning and curling into Harry more. He chuckled, and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, before speaking softly.

"Good morning, beautiful. Its just gone six, we need to get back to the dorms."

"No we don't." Ginny replied groggily.

"Yes, we do. We decided it wouldn't be best to be caught down here, remember?"

"I know. But its comfy here, and warm - I want to stay here curled up with you."

"While I like that idea too, I'm afraid we can't. Shall we meet back here at 7.00 for breakfast?"

"Okay." Ginny replied. "I'll just have to accept it. See you soon. I doubt I'll be getting any more sleep."

"Neither will I, but as is our situation. We'll have to think of ideas for how to share a bed today."

"Yes we will."

They stood up, headed over to the staircase, and Harry gave her a peck on the cheek before they headed up to their separate dorms, both knowing they were destined for no more sleep.

* * *

Harry lay awake on his bed, until the breathing pattern from behind the curtains of the next bed changed. Knowing this meant that Ron would be getting up soon, he quickly got dressed and headed down to the common room. Ron seemed to have an internal clock which would allow him to get up with just enough time to get ready before Breakfast started, as crazy as he was about food, and Harry really did not want to encounter his friend - actually he didn't really know if Ron was his friend anymore - just yet.

Soon, Ginny also arrived in the common room, yawning, trying to avoid her new roommates - especially as one of them was Hermione, who was known not to let a mystery go easily. It must have been obvious to them that someone new was sleeping in their dorm, but she wanted to keep it quiet so that they had no idea who it was for now. It would be a surprise come lessons.

After greeting her with a quick kiss, they headed down to breakfast a little early. While they were eating, McGonagall came round with their timetables. They stuffed them away, intending to look after their meal. As luck would have it, they managed to leave the Great Hall before Ron or Hermione made it down. It was entirely possible that they were waiting for them in the common room, even through Ron's focus on food, but clearly the need to eat had finally won them over.

The pair headed outside, and made their way a little way around the lake, until they reached a large oak tree. Harry sat with his back against the tree, facing out to the lake, and Ginny sat between his legs, leaning her back against his chest, as he hugged her round the waist. Only then did they look at their timetables. As expected, they were identical.

 **Monday  
** Breakfast: 7.00 - 8.30  
Period 1: 9.00 - 10.05 - Ancient Runes  
Period 2: 10.10 - 11.15 - Transfiguration  
Period 3: 11.20 - 12.25 - Transfiguration  
Lunch: 12.30 - 13.30  
Period 4: 14.00 - 15.05 - Potions  
Period 5: 15.10 - 16.15 - Potions  
Period 6: 16.20 - 17.25 - Arithmancy  
Dinner: 18.00 - 19.00  
Curfew: 21.00

 **Tuesday  
** Breakfast: 7.00 - 8.30  
Period 1: 9.00 - 10.05 - Herbology  
Period 2: 10.10 - 11.15 - History of Magic  
Period 3: 11.20 - 12.25 - Astronomy  
Lunch: 12.30 - 13.30  
Period 4: 14.00 - 15.05 - Charms  
Period 5: 15.10 - 16.15 - Charms  
Period 6: 16.20 - 17.25  
Dinner: 18.00 - 19.00  
Curfew: 21.00

 **Wednesday  
** Breakfast: 7.00 - 8.30  
Period 1: 9.00 - 10.05  
Period 2: 10.10 - 11.15 - History of Magic  
Period 3: 11.20 - 12.25 - Transfiguration  
Lunch: 12.30 - 13.30  
Period 4: 14.00 - 15.05 - Ancient Runes  
Period 5: 15.10 - 16.15 - Defence Against the Dark Arts  
Period 6: 16.20 - 17.25 - Care of Magical Creatures  
Dinner: 18.00 - 19.00  
Curfew: 21.00  
Astronomy Practical: 23.30 - 01.00

 **Thursday  
** Breakfast: 7.00 - 8.30  
Period 1: 9.00 - 10.05 - Arithmancy  
Period 2: 10.10 - 11.15  
Period 3: 11.20 - 12.25 - History of Magic  
Lunch: 12.30 - 13.30  
Period 4: 14.00 - 15.05 - Charms  
Period 5: 15.10 - 16.15 - Herbology  
Period 6: 16.20 - 17.25 - Potions  
Dinner: 18.00 - 19.00  
Curfew: 21.00

 **Friday  
** Breakfast: 7.00 - 8.30  
Period 1: 9.00 - 10.05  
Period 2: 10.10 - 11.15 - Defence Against the Dark Arts  
Period 3: 11.20 - 12.25 - Defence Against the Dark Arts  
Lunch: 12.30 - 13.30  
Period 4: 14.00 - 15.05 - Care of Magical Creatures  
Period 5: 15.10 - 16.15 - Herbology  
Period 6: 16.20 - 17.25  
Dinner: 18.00 - 19.00  
Curfew: 21.00

 **Saturday and Sunday  
** Breakfast: 7.00 - 10.00  
Lunch: 12.00 - 14.00  
Dinner: 18.00 - 19.00  
Curfew: 21.00

As it was Friday, they only had four lessons.

"Cool, double DADA first, then a new subject, and Herbology. Nice way to end the week. Then on Monday we have the other two new subjects." Harry commented.

"Yes, and we're in all of them together." Ginny added. "It couldn't have worked out better. Now we'll spend next to no time apart."

"Perfect." Harry replied.

They soon lapsed into silence after a short discussion on the timetables, content to sit there in the early morning sun together until ten o'clock, when they headed inside and upstairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

* * *

They were the first to arrive, and chose a pair of seats in the front row. Like every class at Hogwarts, you worked in pairs, one or two pairs to a table, dependant on where in the room you sat. They chose a table so it was just the two of them. Slowly, the class began filling up behind them, a few people shooting odd looks at Ginny. Ron and Hermione were the last two to arrive, and had to take the only remaining seats, at the back of the room.

"Not like Hermione to be late. Reckon they were waiting for me again?" Harry whispered in Ginny's ear.

"Probably. Not much you can do about it though. If you don't want to talk to them then there's nothing they can do about it." She muttered back. Harry just nodded in agreement.

Just then, Professor Lupin entered. "Wands out, books away." He started. This caused a great deal of muttering. Fun, practical lessons had been thin on the ice the previous year. After Lockhart's first 'lesson' on Cornish Pixies there hadn't been much more practical work in the subject, as Lockhart had wanted to keep his reputation fairly intact. This was already proving to be an interesting lesson. When movement had ceased, Professor Lupin started back towards the door. "Follow me please."

While heading down a corridor, Professor Lupin suddenly stopped, causing the class to all pull up short behind him. Strange sounds could be heard from through the door that the Professor was standing next to.

"Right then. Watch closely class - seems you'll be getting an impromptu lesson on dealing with frustrating poltergeists." Everyone grinned at this statement, except Hermione, who had a slight frown on her face.

Soon, without warning, Peeves the Poltergeist flew through the door. Without noticing Professor Lupin or the class behind him, he started trying to stick chewing gum in the lock. Suddenly he looked up, wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song upon seeing the Professor.

"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy, Lupin - "

Rude and unmanageable though he was, Peeves usually showed some respect towards the teachers. Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling.

"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole, if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."

The class winced, Filch would not take kindly to being denied access to his brooms, and was already waging a constant war against not just students, but mainly the annoying poltergeist. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.

"This is a useful little spell, so please pay attention." He told the class over his shoulder. He raised the wand to shoulder height and pointed it at Peeves.

" _Waddiwasi!_ " He said.

With the force of a bullet, the chewing gum Peeves had been pushing into the keyhole flew out and up the Poltergeist's left nostril; he whirled around and zoomed away down the corridor, cursing.

"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.

"Thank you, Dean." said Professor Lupin in reply, as he put his wand away. "Shall we proceed?" He asked calmly and rhetorically as he walked off down the corridor.

They soon arrived at the staffroom door. As Professor Lupin opened it, It could be seen that Professor Snape was there alone. Naturally, he chose to make a scathing comment. "Watch it Lupin. Longbottom's in this class. I'm surprised he can tell one end of his wand from the other."

"I'm sure Neville will perform admirably. In fact, I was planning on requesting his assistance in my first demonstration." Clearly not wanting to hang around to see who would be correct, or whether the staff room would even survive, the greasy haired Potions Professor hurriedly left, closing the door behind him.

"Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts. While teaching for this subject has been less than perfect, I'll attempt to bring you up to speed for your year. This means covering lots of dark creatures. Also, a warm welcome to Miss Weasley, who has moved up a year to join us in our class. I'm sure you'll get caught up to speed quickly." The class were dumbfounded. Not all of them had noticed Ginny on the way in. She started blushing at the attention, but Harry grabbed her hand comfortingly, and she relaxed. Ron looked increasingly bothered by this action. Hermione had an undisguised look of jealousy on her face. She hadn't noticed Ginny when she had entered the classroom, not wanting to be too obvious in her late arrival. Why would Ginny get to move up a year when she couldn't?

"Right, down to business. Who can tell me what creature it is that is hiding in this room?" As usual, Hermione's hand was the first up, closely followed by Harry's and Ginny's. They hadn't spent all that time over the summer reading their textbooks for nothing. "Harry, what do you think?" Professor Lupin asked politely.

"A boggart sir. It's in the cupboard."

"Excellent, 5 points for Gryffindor. Does anyone know what a boggart does?"

The same three hands went up. Neville's tentatively poked its way into the air, but then went straight back down, as he blushed in embarrassment and looked rather scared. Professor Lupin kindly chose not to notice or comment on any of this.

"Ginny, what do you think it can do?"

"They can show you your worst fear. Essentially they are shape-shifters, changing to what will frighten us most."

"Correct, so take another 5 points." The class were slightly shocked; it was rare for a teacher to award so many points so quickly at the start of the first lesson. He continued as if nothing was the matter. "This one hasn't yet assumed a form. As there are so many of us, we have a huge advantage over it. What is that? Hermione?" He asked, deciding to choose the third hand that had been up for every question so far. Once again Harry and Ginny had their hands up, but no one else did, despite the Slytherins starting to look sour at the amount of points he was giving to Gryffindor.

"It won't know what form to assume first. We should confuse it enough to force it back into the cupboard."

"Yes. Take 5 more points. Now there is a simple charm for dealing with boggarts - _Riddikulus_. Repeat after me, _Riddikulus_."

The class chorused " _Riddikulus_."

"Excellent. Now, the wand movement. It is simply a short, sharp jab towards the boggart. Don't practice it now. Sadly, the charm alone is not enough, it must be combined with anything which makes the form it has taken seem funny. So Neville, would you come over here please." He asked his already chosen helper.

Once Neville had taken his place next to the professor, gulping, he continued. "Neville, what frightens you most?"

"Pro-Professor S-Snape." He stammered.

At a laugh from all the Gryffindors, but a frown from the Slytherins (they really didn't appreciate the insults heaped upon their head of house), Lupin gave a wry smile. "Yes, he can be pretty intimidating can't he? I certainly understand that. Now what does your grandmother usually wear?"

Taken aback by the apparent sudden change of subject, Neville took a moment to answer. "Well, my grandma has this stuffed vulture hat she always wears. Then there's this long green dress, red handbag and fox-fur scarf." He looked confused as to why this should matter.

"Right. Keep concentrating on first Professor Snape, then your grandmother's clothes. The rest of the class, I want you to also think about what frightens you most and how you can make it funny. Ready?" He asked after a moment and received nods from around the room. Harry was worried, he didn't know what he'd find most frightening at all. Then he thought of the Dementor, hidden under its mysterious black cloak. Professor Lupin continued, "Ok. In a second I am going to release the boggart. Upon seeing you Neville, it will assume the shape of Professor Snape. I want you to imagine him in those clothes you just mentioned, and then use the charm. Got it? Good. Alohomora."

The door to the closet opened, and out stumbled Professor Snape. He straightened up and sneered at Neville. "Longbottom..."

"R-Riddikulus!" Neville stuttered. Suddenly, the boggart was forced into those same clothes that Neville had just described.

"Next!" Professor Lupin shouted, and the class all lined up to take on the Boggart, with Harry and Ginny at the back, while he put some music on.

As each student moved in front of the boggart, it took the shape of what frightened them most, before being forced to become something funny. Ron got a spider, which then lost its legs to make it funny.

Next, It faced Parvati and changed into a bandaged, bloodstained mummy, which tripped over its bandages before coming to face Seamus, turning into a Banshee. He cast the spell to make the Boggart-Banshee lose its voice. For Hermione it became Professor McGonagall telling her she failed all her exams, and she changed it into the same teacher giving her an award. (Most people didn't seem to understand quite how this was _funny_ , as opposed to the opposite of the original form, but it seemed to work).

Next was Dean, for whom it became a disembodied, living hand. As he shouted _Riddikulus_ and jabbed his wand toward it it got caught in a mousetrap. As the trap closed on the fingers, the hand was thrown in the air, and it came to land directly in front of Harry and started to change.

However, just before Harry or Ginny got their go or even to see what it would become for them, Professor Lupin jumped in front. The boggart assumed the shape of a white orb hanging in the air. When he performed the charm, it became a balloon with all the air rushing out, before he forced it back into the wardrobe with a banishing charm.

"That's enough for today. Let's see, Five points to everyone who took on the boggart. That should give both houses quite a few extra points. See you next week." He said, sounding slightly out of breath before regaining his composure.

The class all left for lunch discussing the lesson in vivid detail, but with obvious uncertainty at seeing their greatest fears displayed like that. Except for Harry and Ginny. They still didn't know what a Boggart would become for them, and they didn't know why the Professor had prevented them from taking it on.

* * *

After a successful lunch of avoiding Ron and Hermione, the latter of which was probably in the library, already researching despite them not having been given any homework yet, Harry and Ginny headed down to Care of Magical Creatures early, holding hands and taking a meandering course to Hagrid's hut. They wanted some time alone together before talking to Hagrid a bit until the lesson started.

As they approached, Hagrid called to them. "Hey there you two! This is me firs' lesson! Been up since five gettin it ready."

"I'm sure you'll do great!"

Hagrid didn't seem to be concerned that Harry was now spending all his waking hours with Ginny, as opposed to Ron and Hermione, in fact he looked rather happy that the youngest Weasley was being included a bit more.

Soon, the remainder of the class turned up. As it was a supplement course, and not everyone did it, all houses were mixed together. When everyone seemed to be there, Hagrid stepped up to the front and started speaking.

"Good mornin' class! If you'll folla me, I gotta real treat for ya today!"

He led them to a small paddock on the outskirts of the forest. Some students looked uncertainly, nervously, at the forest around them, while others grinned at the chance to see what was inside, even if it was close to the edge. "If you'll open yer books to page 47, I'll be goin and gettin' him for you to 'ave a look at." Hermione looked askance at having to start a textbook almost half a term worth in, rather than at the beginning. However, never one to argue with teachers, she immediately turned to her spell-o-taped book, subtly trying to figure how to open it.

"And just how do we open our books?" Malfoy asked to his retreating back, holding up his textbook being kept shut by a belt. Hagrid started to turn, but Harry was quicker.

"Stroke the spine of course!" Harry replied, as if it was obvious. The other Gryffindors, despite only finding this out now, all nodded, quickly doing so, and making it look like it was obvious so that the Slytherins believed they had missed being told something when they had bought the books, knowing that would really annoy them. Even the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joined in with the Gryffindors, wanting some sort of small victory over the Slytherins who had been rude and horrible to them the past three years. Hagrid smiled at Harry in thanks, and continued his journey through the trees.

Soon Hagrid returned with a strange creature in tow. It had the head, front legs and wings of an eagle, but the body, hind legs and tail of a horse.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Ron, blurting all his thoughts out as usual, asked the question on everyone's minds.

"This, is Buckbeak the Hippogriff. The firs' thing ya gotta know about Hippogriffs is they're very proud, very easily offended. Never insult one, as i' may be the last thing you do. Yer always wait fer the Hippogriff to make the first move. To approach them, you bow, then let them bow back before you get any closer. Then they migh' let ya touch 'em. If they don't, well, we'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. Who wants a go?"

The rest of the class stepped back, worriedly. Not wanting Hagrid's first lesson to be ruined immediately, Harry and Ginny bravely stepped forward, despite knowing of Hagrid's penchant for dangerous creatures. When Hagrid turned back around from throwing Buckbeak some food, he saw them standing further forward than everyone else, and decided, "Right, 'Arry first!"

Harry took a cautious step towards Buckbeak, before bowing slowly, uncertain about completely taking his eyes off of the large, magnificent creature, but knowing it was necessary. He straightened out of his bow.

He waited.

Nothing happened.

"Alrigh', back away now 'Arry, back away..." Hagrid started urging him quietly, but with a touch of worry in his voice for his student. Harry took a slow step back, but amazingly, as he did so, Buckbeak slowly lent forward into a bow.

"Well done 'Arry - yeh can go pet 'im now!" Hagrid said, with a few claps.

Harry shot a glance at Ginny, then he closed the remaining distance between himself and the hippogriff, before patting him on the back, just behind the neck. Buckbeak lowed softly, and gently licked his face. Buckbeak then bucked his head up gently, pushing his neck in to Harry's hand.

"Excellent 'Arry - I think he'll let ya ride 'im now!"

"Wait, what?" This was more than Harry had bargained for. He was expecting to have to pet he creature, but ride it? He shot a look at Ginny, to see a worried look on her face too. It seemed she too wasn't quite sure what to think about this creature.

"Up ya go." Hagrid said, the half-giant effortlessly lifting the small thirteen year-old onto Buckbeak's back. "Now make sure you don't pull out any feathers - 'e won' thank ya fer that!" This statement confused Harry more, as everywhere in front of him was covered in the grey silver feathers. "Off ya go!" Hagrid exclaimed, slapping Buckbeak on the back.

After rearing up, the Hippogriff galloped forward to the other end of the clearing before jumping into the air, effortlessly clearing the trees. Quickly, Harry realised just how much more enjoyable this was than flying on a broomstick.

Shouting with joy, he let Buckbeak fly him around above the forest. They took a relatively low pass over the clearing in which the class and Hagrid were watching them from, then back up to fly above the tallest trees - higher than he'd ever been on his broomstick. Buckbeak then dived down, dropping down to the Black Lake, where the Hippogriff trailed his claws through the water, and Harry also reached down with his left hand to let the water run over it. He'd given up worrying about where to hold on - Buckbeak was flying very well so as to prevent him falling off, so he just held on with his legs either side of the Hippogriff's horse-like body.

Soon, Hagrid gave a loud whistle, and upon hearing it, Buckbeak swooped back in towards the clearing, suddenly slowing down into a gentle landing back where he started. Sliding off the Hippogriff, Harry didn't think he'd be able to stop smiling. It had been a lot of fun, and he couldn't wait to try again. He gave Buckbeak a quick stroke, and got a low in return. Then he quickly headed back over to Ginny, and leaning down to whisper in her ear said excitedly, "You have got to try that!"

As Ginny had also volunteered, Hagrid let her go through the same process with Buckbeak; bowing, petting and flying, which she enjoyed immensely, before Hagrid collected a few more of the creatures and the class split up with different Hippogriffs.

As Harry and Ginny had already worked with Buckbeak, they were now talking to Hagrid and looking at their textbooks. Their help in the demonstration meant that they had already completed the practical lesson, so they were concentrating on the theory. However, Harry's attention was elsewhere. He carefully eyed Malfoy. The blond Slytherin had been whispering to Crabbe and Goyle the entire time that Hagrid had been talking, and Harry felt sure that he was plotting a way to remove the half-giant from his new post. Edging closer to Hagrid, he muttered, "Hagrid, I think Malfoy's up to something."

Just as Hagrid turned to look, Malfoy started insulting the Buckbeak, the Hippogriff he had been working with, precisely what he would have known not to do had he been listening.

Hagrid started moving. "Malfoy, no! Ya don' wanna insult 'em!"

But he was too late. Buckbeak reared back and then hit Malfoy in the arm with his front legs. Naturally, being a drama queen, Malfoy collapsed and moaned "It's killed me, I'm dying, Somebody help!" Crabbe and Goyle stared at him stupidly, while Harry and Ginny looked worried, but for Hagrid and not Malfoy. Who knew what this could do for his career?

Hagrid rushed in to placate the angry Hippogriff, holding his arms in front of him carefully, guiding Buckbeak away, before returning and picking Malfoy up. "Righ', I'll take 'im to the Hospital Wing. Class dismissed!"

Returning to the castle Harry and Ginny were muttering how it was just like Malfoy to do something like that, while the other Slytherins played up his injury, seemingly getting into it.

Unfortunately, the pair of young Gryffindors had by this point been mostly left behind. Most the rest of the class had moved on to the castle faster to get a break before Herbology, so it was just Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione left. Not realising this, Harry and Ginny were walking rather close together, with their hands clasped. Although no-one knew about their relationship yet, they weren't going out of their way to keep it secret. They didn't want to hide their relationship, and were actually surprised that the Hogwarts Rumour Mill didn't appear to have picked up on it yet. It was bad luck that Ron and Hermione happened to be behind them and so the first to notice.

"Oi, Potter! What do you think you're doing with my sister?" Ron called. Slowly, they turned around.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously, trying to project a false sense of calm into his voice.

"What's going on with you? First she disappears to stay with you all summer, then you both ignore us when school starts! I want to know what's going on!" Ron continued.

Hermione, who up until that point had been trying fruitlessly to get Ron to calm down before he said something he regretted, was momentarily shocked into silence when she heard exactly where Ginny had spent her summer. Looking to Harry and Ginny for an explanation, she was just in time to hear Ginny mutter to Harry "Overprotective git" in his ear, before quickly raising her wand at Ron and whispering " _Bates Mocios_ ". She flinched for him. Ginny must have been really angry - she hadn't even seen the younger girl draw her wand, and the hex looked even more painful than it normally was, which was saying something.

Ron's head quickly became host to a dozen winged bogeys, all flapping around him as he fell to the floor. Ginny stepped towards him, eyes glinting in anger, hands on hips. To Harry this just made her look even more beautiful, and he fought to hide his grin. He didn't much feel like drawing Ginny's anger towards him - he was rather fearful of her hexing ability. "Now Ronald," Ginny started quietly, using his full name for emphasis, "what Harry and I do is none of your business. I would have thought you would have worked out, even with your pea-sized brain, just why we have been avoiding you. Your letter on my birthday wasn't the most pleasant, nor was the one you wrote Harry. They could have both been worded a lot nicer, and if you'd have been calmer we might have considered talking to you.

"Now if I had been able, I would have hexed you then. Luckily for you, I couldn't, but we decided that if you couldn't accept the idea of us being in the same house for the summer, then it wasn't worth trying to be friendly with you." Suddenly, Hermione found the girl's gaze on her. "The same extends to you if you side with him on this." She stated icily.

"So Ronald, I want you to know that whether anything did or didn't happen over the summer while I was with Harry, I did not need your protection. I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. You know I can't stand it when you, or any of our brothers for that matter, try to control my life. You completely lost any chance of that at the end of last year. You know who helped me get past..." She petered off, leaving Harry to step up behind her and pull her into his arms.

Muttering quietly to her for a second, he looked back up. The bats had left Ron's face, Ginny had clearly wanted the curse to cause pain, but make him still able to listen to what she had to say, so it wasn't too long lasting, and the youngest male Weasley looked on in horror as Harry quickly placed a kiss on his sister's forehead, before addressing him in a cold, indifferent tone.

"You know I could probably forgive you, and most likely would if it was just me, for how you've made me feel, but for what you did to Ginny, both over the summer and ignoring her last year, even after the chamber, I can't. You should know we are dating." At this, Ron let out a strangled cry. "But I'm not pressuring her at all. Now don't even think about talking to us again until you've thought about your actions and realised how you've treated us."

Looking at Hermione, he saw that although she was bursting for answers from the two of them, she managed to hold back, looking after Ron instead of following the retreating forms of Harry and Ginny to the greenhouses for their Herbology lesson. However, it appeared that they had given the bushy-haired girl a lot to think about, and knew that that would not be the end of it.

* * *

After dinner that evening, by which time Ginny had cheered up considerably by helping Harry in Herbology, they spent a nice hour relaxing together under a tree by the lake, then headed back to the common room. Harry quickly retrieved his invisibility cloak from his dormitory, before they left back through the portrait hole and slipped under it.

They soon had found the portrait of the opera singing cows on the fourth floor, and Harry turned to find a blank wall. However, just as he was thinking that Godric's study should be just there, and he couldn't see it, he saw a door appear. Approaching it, a small bowl and knife appeared just to the right of the sealed door. A sign above them read - _Prove you are a true heir by placing a drop of blood in the bowl._

Taking the knife, he cut the end of his finger, and let some blood drip into the bowl. He heard the door unlock with a click. The bowl cleaned itself and the sign changed. _If you wish anyone else to be able to enter please be in contact with them while they drop some blood in._ Pulling Ginny forward, he let her gently cut one finger and drip some blood while holding her hand, as he had just done. Then, they entered the door while the bowl cleaned itself again. As they did so, their fingers magically healed, saving them the worry of waiting until it happened naturally. Behind them, the door closed, and although they couldn't see it, it disappeared along with the bowl, knife and message to leave the corridor precisely how they'd found it.

The study was furnished with red and gold - Gryffindor colours. There was one wall with multiple doors leading off of it, another with a huge window overlooking the quidditch pitch, and then the final one with a giant marble fireplace, with Godric's portrait hanging above it. He appeared asleep. The window was opposite the door they entered through, with the other doors on their left and the fireplace on their right. They decided to explore the other rooms first.

The first door on the left opened into a massive library. "Hermione doesn't know what she's missing out on." Harry joked, and Ginny grinned. She knew they'd never read anyway near all the books in that room, but Harry was right - Hermione would be in heaven in there. The next was the perfect room for planning pranks in, containing all the hardest to come by pranking items. They immediately knew Fred and George would love it, however were confused as to why it was there. The third oddly opened into the side of a hallway, with a painting of Barnabus the Barmy slightly further down. They knew it to be a corridor in the castle, on the seventh floor, as they had both used it at some point since they started at Hogwarts. Finally they opened the fourth door onto a large master suite - a bedroom with a bathroom off it. The bedroom contained another window looking out onto the quidditch pitch along the right hand wall, and a king-sized bed with scarlet hangings on the left.

Making their way back out into the main room, they noticed not only had a desk appeared under the window, which was now on their left due to their being turned around, but also a few sofas had appeared in front of the fire, making it seem like the Gryffindor common room. There was also a loveseat. The room seemed to have responded to what it thought it's new users would need.

Sitting in the loveseat, Harry pulled Ginny onto his lap, letting her curl into him as he put her arms around her, before attempting to wake up the portrait. "Godric?"

The painting's eyes flew open. "Oh my! It has been so long since I've had a visitor. You must be a true heir to get in here, but who are you, and who is this lovely young lady?"

"Um, I'm Harry Potter, this is Ginny..." He tailed off, not sure how to introduce his wife. Did they want to keep their bond secret from Godric? The choice was taken out of his hands.

"Potter" Ginny supplied. Godric did a double-take.

"And how old are you?"

"I'm twelve, Harry's thirteen."

"You can't be siblings..." Godric mused. "Their haven't been two siblings in the Potter family for decades, let alone two so close in age. So how have you got the same last name?"

"Marriage." Ginny deadpanned. Harry decided the best course of action was to let her handle it. She seemed to know what she was doing. Seeing the portrait raise its eyebrows, she answered the approaching question of how, "Soul-bond."

After getting over his initial shock, Godric started speaking. "Really? Amazing! There hasn't been a soul-bond in centuries, especially not so young. The requirements for one generally don't exist at your ages. But yours still seems rather recent. Perhaps the last few months? It doesn't seem you are experiencing the full effects yet..."

"Do you know much about them?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Not really. My son had one, but he never told me about it. So, what family are you from?" He addressed Ginny.

"The Weasleys."

"Ah, at last! Potters and Weasleys united by law. I have been waiting a long time for that. So, I guess you are here because of the letter I left in my vault. Correct?" Receiving nods in the affirmative, he continued. "As my true heir, you do, as you already know, have access to my vault, and also this room. I believe you will find it very useful, as it can add more to adapt to your needs. Also, you are the only two who can access it. The access addition system you saw only works with your true mate. It doesn't tell you that because I only found out after I died, unfortunately through my first visitor trying to bring more people in. The results were, shall we say, gruesome."

"That's disappointing, we were hoping to bring two of Ginny's brothers here so that we could talk in private." Harry commented.

"I will have a think about a way you might be able to let them in here, but chances are it will make the room less secure."

"Thank you. We had a look around. What do you mean it can adapt to our needs?" Harry asked, curious.

"It will add rooms as you need them, completely equipped with what you want at the time. I guess you saw the pranking room. Pranking is a huge part of our ancestry!" Godric replied with a chuckle.

"We were a bit confused about the door onto the seventh floor hallway. Why is that there?" Harry continued.

"Ah. If you spotted the tapestry farther down the hall?" He received a pair of nods. "If you walk past it three times thinking of the room you need, a door will appear opposite. It is called the Room of Requirement. It isn't quite as advanced as in here, but you can take whoever you want there. This does add the disadvantage of meaning you can be discovered easier, whereas not even the Headmaster knows about this room. Actually, you could use that room to meet your brothers," he addressed Ginny, "if I can't think of a way to get them in here."

"Okay Godric. I think we'll head to bed now as we are quite tired. W'll talk in the morning."

Harry lifted Ginny out of his lap, and they headed towards the door to the seventh floor. Due to it's proximity with the Gryffindor tower, it was the best to use in this situation. However, at the last minute, Ginny remembered something. Dragging Harry to the door to the right, they entered the master bedroom.

"After last night, I'm not exactly looking forward to sleeping alone again. Can we stay here, please?" She turned her large chocolate brown eyes on him, opened wide. Harry chuckled. He knew enough from the summer to know that he could never resist that face.

"Okay Gin." He summoned their pyjamas and they settled into sleep, presuming everyone was asleep and no-one would see them flying through the common room, silently agreeing that it was best if they left the majority of their belongings in their dormitories for show.


	13. The Marauder's Legacy

**A/N -** Here it is, another chapter! Sorry it took so long to get this out. With starting college again this year I've been very busy and haven't had much time to write. This chapter is a lot shorter, more of a filler chapter to fill Fred and George in on everything Harry and Ginny know. Next chapter it should get more interesting again, although I can't promise when that will come out. Please favourite and review - it makes it all worth it! ( **Disclaimer** in Chapter 1)

 **Chapter 13 - The Marauders Legacy**

In the morning, Harry and Ginny woke up together after a much better night's sleep than the previous one, further instilling confidence in them that it was due to them being in the same bed. After a short while of just cuddling together, they headed out of the bedroom for the door to the third floor that they had entered the night before. As they had gotten a better nights sleep, they needed to get to breakfast quickly before it finished. However, as they passed through the main room, hand in hand, Godric cleared his throat from the portrait above the fire. The young teens paused and turned to look at him, expectantly.

"I've thought of a way you can add more people to the access list of this room so long as you have a connection of sorts to them. Also, they have to be touching either of you to gain access each time, but it is better than nothing. That means you are still unable to be found when you don't want to be, and are alone."

"How do we do it?" Harry asked, intrigued. It would be good if they could get the twin Weasley brothers into this room with them, so they could talk with the knowledge that no one could possibly overhear anything they had to say, that might be better off kept secret. Ginny was just excited at the thought.

"There is a slightly complicated spell, which I have no doubt either of you will be able to perform, and as far as I know it only works on family members for now. You must cast it on each person you wish to enter, but it is only needed once per person. The incantation is _Familia add speravimus._ From then on, they may enter with either one of you, but never on their own. I suggest you keep the number of people you add to a minimum. I'm sure you want your privacy." He chuckled.

Blushing, they thanked Godric, and headed down to breakfast, pleased with the knowledge that they wouldn't be the only two ever able to access Godric's Rooms. Walking in to the Great Hall hand in hand caused an increase in muttering, it was clear that somehow the Hogwarts rumour mill hadn't picked up yet on their current status as 'dating' and passed the news around the school. They weren't too bothered, the sooner everyone found out they were together the better.

Sitting down next to Fred and George, they muttered a request to speak to them after breakfast. All four then devoured their meal as quickly as possible, the Weasleys emulating Ron slightly in their desire to finish quickly, before the two third years headed up to the common room, having finished first. Harry collected his invisibility cloak, while Ginny made an appearance in her dorm to keep up pretences. It would be better if they were both seen in the dorm rooms at least periodically. They then headed down to the grounds, just outside the entrance hall, to await the Twins.

* * *

As soon as Fred and George arrived, the four teenagers headed over to a secluded corner. Harry pulled the cloak out, held it in front of him, and looked at it critically for a moment.

"Godric, is that an invisibility cloak?" Exclaimed Fred, or was it George? Harry made a mental note to at some point find a way to tell the Twins apart.

"Yeah, it was my Dad's. I don't think its big enough though, for all of us." He explained, "And I don't want to damage it - I don't know what casting an enlargement charm on it would do to the invisibility magic it contains."

"It shouldn't affect it." The other twin commented thoughtfully.

"Yeah, we've found that although our prank items..."

"... aren't generally good at holding more than one spell..."

"... magical objects themselves..."

"... or those mass produced for a purpose - don't forget, My esteemed brother!" George cut in.

"Yeah, or those, can hold more magic than they were originally designed with!" Fred finished triumphantly, while Harry just shook his head at the twin talk, trying to follow along, and Ginny watched on, used to it by now, having lived with it for the past twelve years.

"So you're suggesting it should be fine?" Harry confirmed.

"I would have thought so, young Harry."

Harry frowned slightly at the 'young', but nodded. Deciding it would probably be fine, he pointed his wand at the cloak and muttered "Engorgio". He held the cloak, and continued the spell until it looked like it would hold all four of them. He draped the enlarged cloak around the group, and whispered to the other three, "Remember, the cloak may keep us invisible but it doesn't make us silent - we can still be heard, or in the case of Mrs Norris, smelt." He then led the others up to the fourth floor, before pulling them to a halt where he and Ginny could see the entrance to Godric's Study.

"Um, why are we here? This is just a blank wall. We never found anything here, not even with the map." George asked.

"I sure hope you've not already found something we didn't." Fred continued.

Harry smiled slightly at that. "Just give me a second - I need to cast a spell on each of you." Receiving a pair of nods in acceptance, he pulled out his wand and chanted "Familia add speravimus" while pointing it at each of them.

"Wicked!" The Twins exclaimed in unison as the door appeared before them.

Harry quickly explained a bit to them. "This is a secret study, I will explain more when we are inside. Just know that you can only gain access when in contact with one of us, and will never be able to tell someone else about it without one of our permission." He then grabbed Fred, and Ginny grabbed George, before they entered the suite of rooms.

* * *

Fred and George slowly turned, taking in the main room, before being pulled over to the fire. Harry and Ginny once more curled up together in the loveseat, while the Twins sat opposite them on a couch.

Harry started speaking. "Right, this is called Godric's study. No one can get in besides a true heir of Gryffindor and their chosen mate. Hence me and Ginny. I am the heir of Gryffindor."

"And little Gin-Gin here can get in because of your magic bond thingy?" The twin on the left confirmed. Harry had been looking the other way when they had sat down so didn't know who was who.

"Yep, turns out that although Godric didn't have a soul-bond, his son did. It appears that he designed these rooms with his descendants in mind, knowing they'd want somewhere to go in the school. However most of them didn't know about it, only a true heir can find out. Which is probably good, how many more pranks would have been played if my dad had access to this room?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"What are the other doors for?" One of the twins asked.

"One is a library that Hermione wouldn't leave if she found out about. Another leads to a hallway, which will be explained later. The one on the far right is a master bedroom. The second from the left, well, go check it out yourselves."

The twins rose as one and went to open the door. "Wicked!" They exclaimed again when they saw what it contained.

"We thought this would be a great place to plan pranks. And that's what I mean. How much mayhem would have been caused had the infamous Marauders been able to access it? The spell we used on you to allow you access to this room hadn't been thought of this morning, but given Godric" Harry gestured to the portrait over the fireplace, "figured it out overnight for us, I hardly think it would have taken long had my dad needed it.

"Now, the door into the hallway. Do you happen to see the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy down the hall?" He asked as the twins looked out the door into the deceivingly empty hallway. He received a pair of nods. "Apparently, if you pace opposite it three times, while thinking of anything you need, a room will appear that can provide for you, called the Room of Requirement. The spell I used to let you in here only works on family members, so anyone outside the family can't access the study. If we ever meet with them, it can be done in that room instead, however it isn't as secret, as anyone can find it."

The twins followed Harry and Ginny back into the study, and they sat back down. Then Harry asked Fred, "Can I have the map please?"

After handing it over, Fred and George made a huge display, bowing down and chanting "We are not worthy, far be it for us to stand between you and your inheritance!" However they quickly stopped after a light slap on the head each from Ginny, (although she was silently giggling at the display and the frown on Harry's face), seating themselves back in their original places.

"Right. My dad told me about this spell in a letter, and asked me to cast it on the map. _Potter Revelio."_ He said, holding his wand to the map. Suddenly, an extra fold of parchment appeared in the corner, on which several instructions were included about how the map operated. In addition to this, the names on the map changed, so they included middle names. Each name also now had a 'Yes' or 'No' next to it. The four looked at the new names, trying to spot a pattern. Everyone they could see seemed to have a 'No'.

"Wait a second, look at Professor McGonagall!" A twin exclaimed. "She's got a yes, and next to it, ' _CAT - Rimmed Eyes'_!"

They all pondered this for a minute, until Ginny gasped with revelation. "Something McGonagall has, but no-one else we can see? And in relation to a cat with rimmed eyes? The only thing I can think of that we know about is that she's an ani.. anima..."

Ginny was struggling with remembering the word from the start of her first year, having already been slightly under the influence of the diary, even then. Harry decided to step in to help her out. "Animagus?"

"Yeah that. Do we know if anyone else in the castle is one?

"I don't think so dear sister ours." The left twin commented. "Although we secretly think it would be brilliant blackmail material if Filch was, and transformed into a cat similar to Mrs Norris..." Harry and Ginny visibly shivered at the thought.

"Ok then, we think that means they're an Animagus." Harry attempted to pull the conversation back on track. Looking at the instructions, Harry saw that they told him how to add areas to the map, hide areas from people who he didn't want to accidentally see them, and the same for names - which could be overwritten to say something else for most people. He immediately cast this spell to make the map read Ginny Weasley instead of Ginny Potter for all except those in the room. Ginny frowned slightly at this, but understood the need for secrecy. Harry felt a vague sense of annoyance, quickly followed by acceptance, but thought nothing of it.

"Now we need to talk about the Marauders. We know one is my dad. That's pretty obvious given the spell he gave me worked. The others I have an idea about. When we went to Gringott's, Ragnok informed us of my parent's will." He looked down and paused slightly, but Ginny laid a supporting hand on his arm. Still he made no motion to continue, so she took over for him.

"In their will, they had left money to three people: Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."

The reactions from those three names were almost comic. George was the first to articulate words.

"Remus Lupin, our DADA teacher?"

"I don't know of another," Harry acknowledged, "and it's not exactly a common name."

"Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew? That's strange..." Fred commented.

"From what Ginny told me about them, we believe that not everything is not necessarily as it seems when it comes to them. We're just not sure what the actual truth is. We asked Ragnok to look into it, along with what seems like a multitude of other things."

"You hear that, Gred?"

"Too right I do, Forge."

"It seems our lovely..."

"...wonderful..."

"...kind and caring..."

"...sister has been following in our footsteps..."

"...and has been listening in on our parents' conservations!"

Ginny blushed slightly, but smiled angelically. "Mum and Dad would never guess anything would be the fault of the only girl, their perfect little angel. Where did you think half the pranks against you originated from?"

"That was you?" The right-hand twin asked. She nodded slightly in confirmation, leaning into Harry's arm. She could fell him shaking in an effort to suppress his laughter.

"And you let Ron take the blame?" The other twin confirmed.

"That was positively devilish of you, dear sister ours!"

"Indeed, we can't wait to have you and Harry pranking with us!"

Harry again realised the conversation was quickly descending into madness, so jumped in to bring it to the matter to hand. "Guys, this is important, remember?" He asked.

The twins suddenly looked thoughtful again. "So, you think those four are the Marauders? That means we know one, and you're the descendant of another. What do we do about Professor Lupin though?" Fred asked.

"I want a conversation with him anyway, and I'm sure Ginny wants to be there, to ask him to teach us how to repel Dementors, and why he didn't let us face the boggart in our lesson yesterday." Harry replied.

"Well this does explain why you didn't talk about the map anymore on the train the other day." George stated, as Harry nodded in reply.

"Anyway, my esteemed brother and I were wondering just where you two got to last night... as all your stuff was in the dorms but your beds didn't appear slept in? That's what Ron and Hermione claimed, anyway. Needless to say, Ronniekins wasn't happy when he couldn't find either of you last night or this morning..." Fred asked.

"We'll tell you, but it goes without saying that Ronald doesn't find out, and you don't kill Harry here." Ginny replied, as Harry had looked down, a worried expression on his face. She pulled him into a reassuring sideways half hug, wrapping her left arm around his back. Receiving nods from the twins, she continued. "Fourth door." She said simply, pointing.

The twins rose as one, and peered through the door to see an obviously slept in bed. Closing the door, they sat down again solemnly.

"Harry." Fred started.

"Young man." George continued. Harry just looked, if possible, even more worried.

"You need to learn more spells before something like this." Fred laughed. Harry's scared expression turned confused.

"What?"

"That's right, our good man - to do something like this, there's one spell you need to know."

"Yes my good brother, one spell." They seesawed, as if presenting a new product.

"It's a secret of ours."

"I don't think many know of it anymore."

"No, it appears they do not."

"The incantation is _apparent dormio._ "

"What does it do?" Ginny queried.

"Why it makes your bed appear slept in of course - perfect for our nighttime wanderings and prank pulling and it seems like just what you need. Just be sure to use it after everyone has gone to bed but before they wake up. It even goes as far as to close the curtains around your bed, so if those in your dorm wake in the middle of the night they don't see an empty bed."

"Brilliant! How did you find it?"

Fred replied, "As strange as it may seem, we read!" He said haughtily, turning his nose up as George assumed a similar posture.

"You're OK with us sleeping together here then?" Harry checked. Then he blushed as he realised what he had said.

The twins couldn't resist an opportunity to tease him though. "Sleeping together?" One asked.

"I thought you were just sleeping next to each other in one bed."

"This changes things, dear brother."

"Fred, George..." Ginny started warningly. They paused their twin talk.

"That's not what I meant guys and you know it. We're way too young to be thinking about... _that_!" Harry protested. "I'll try again. You're OK with us sharing a bed here then?"

"Of course, you're married and besides, we have to keep on our beloved -"

"- favourite -"

"- loving -"

"- sister's good side - that bat-bogey hex of hers is mean!" George continued after more seesawing, while Ginny smiled, once again angelically, at them.

"However, we do have to wonder why you feel it necessary?" Fred asked.

"Surely you've seen Ron's reaction to the news we are dating, and Dumbledore doesn't appear to have our best interests at heart. We believe he knew what was happening last year, but didn't do anything to stop it." This statement caused both twins to gasp in horror. "So, we are taking matters into our own hands."

"What are you going to do?" The twins asked in unison, looking uncharacteristically solemn.

* * *

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in the high winged-back chair located behind the desk of the Hogwarts Headmaster's Office, thinking. It was something he did a lot lately, he realised, but quickly put that down to the unique young couple currently in his school, and their role in the future. The subjects of his pondering were of course Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.

Seeing them as they were yesterday, willingly holding hands after the need was gone, and publicly displaying their relationship, Dumbledore decided that it needed to stop. He had observed, and listened into, the confrontation with the youngest male Weasley from afar, as he studied the evolving relationship between the two third years. While it was good to see Harry starting to stand up for himself, it was unfortunate that the change had come at such an inopportune moment.

As it was in the Headmaster's mind, Harry would need Ronald to help with his troublesome task in the future. Even now, the thirteen-year-old's logic and planning -demonstrated through his natural ability at Wizard's Chess - were obvious to the Headmaster, and it was clear that in order for his carefully laid plan to work, those skills would be vital to help Harry in his role. As would those of Miss Granger - her research skills and motivation ability, while certainly a unique method, would prove indispensable to Harry in the future. While the young boy would not realise it now, Dumbledore believed it would soon become obvious to him that he needed his two best friends.

On the other hand, the ageing wizard could not determine what, if any, skills Miss Weasley brought to the table. In his mind, the only purpose she could play would be to distract Harry from his true role as Vanquisher of the Dark Lord. After all, with the prophecy in mind, the only people who fit the criteria as those who love him most could possibly be himself, and Ron Weasley. He thought of himself as a grandfather-figure to Harry, and as his best friend, Ron would be able to be there for Harry when no one else could. This was the main reason Dumbledore was so worried about their apparent break from friendship, an issue that must be resolved quickly. And once again, the problem was facilitated by Ginevra's presence in young Harry's life. Had they not bonded, Ronald and Harry would never have had a falling out.

Dumbledore refused to even entertain the idea that he could be wrong. He had run through hundreds of different possibilities in his head, to try and find the most likely outcome, as well as the most preferable and how to achieve it. Due to his determination that his interpretation of the Prophecy was correct, the only possible solutions were those in which Harry was not romantically entangled with anyone. He vowed to start on his plan to separate Harry and Ginny on Monday, he would need to head to Diagon Alley tomorrow to pick up a mild love potion, that should be enough. After all, he, Albus Dumbledore, was the self-proclaimed leader of the light and widely acknowledged as the greatest wizard of the age. Why would he be wrong?


	14. Business as Usual

**A/N:** I know its been a while, but here's another chapter for you all! Some lines from this have been taken directly from JKR's Prisoner of Azkaban (although for one of them the speaker has been changed to fit my story) - if you've read the book you should be able to spot them! Other details in this chapter have been made up myself (mainly the layout of the passageways) although I have tried to keep Hogwarts as we know it without changes - nothing mentioned in canon is gone. That said, my main source of knowledge to avoid trawling throgh the books is the Harry Potter Wiki, and I don't know how much on it has been invented by the creators. I know its not an overly interesting chapter, but it acts as a filler and to set the scene of some locations I will be using rather frequently. I have now got over my slight writer's block, and know where I want the story to go now. That said, I do at some point want to go back and improve the earlier chapters, so that may happen first. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and please favourite and review - it makes writing worth it! **(Disclaimer in Chapter 1).**

 **Chapter 14 - Business as Usual**

 _"So, we are taking matters into our own hands."_

 _"What are you going to do?" The twins asked in unison, looking uncharacteristically solemn._

"For now," Harry started, "nothing much. Maybe we'll plan a few pranks for Ron, given he's sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong, but I don't think it will work to try and prank Dumbledore. We could always try I guess. Currently, we just want to concentrate on our studies, as strange as it sounds, and have a bit of fun. At Christmas, I think we'll visit Ragnok again, and hope he has some more information for us."

The twins' faces lit up at the idea of pranking, and they glanced at each other briefly. Turning back to Harry, they said simultaneously, "We've got some ideas for pranks - we'll get back to you soon on that so you can help plan." They sounded almost devilish.

"That sounds good, but for now, we should go have looked lunch. I know I'm hungry, and given your family trait, you three probably are too." Harry replied.

Ginny looked shocked, then her face morphed to an expression of anger and she slapped him lightly on the arm and exclaimed "Are you suggesting that my being a Weasley automatically means I crave food all the time?"

Harry looked worried, and backtracked. "I didn't mean... that is..."

Luckily for him, a small smile appeared on Ginny's face. "It's OK Harry!" She giggled at his expression. "I was just teasing you, and besides, what other impression would you have gotten, from seeing Ron forever hungry the last two years and my mum cooking a feast for every meal? I'll have you remember that I'm not like that though - usually!"

The twins had already decided though, that the opportunity was too good to miss, even with Ginny's apparent temper being revealed as a show. They had already found a way to tease the young couple. "But Ginny, he can't have meant that anyway, I mean, you're not a Weasley anymore - now you're a Potter." Fred started slyly.

George continued, "Actually Fred, I can't think of anything else that he could possibly have meant. Harrikins..." he said in a false sweet voice. "You're not forgetting about your wife already are you?"

Harry looked aghast. "That's not what I meant guys!" He protested. Ginny took pity on him.

"I know Harry, and even though I am a Potter, I was still born a Weasley. Those twin gits just don't know when to stop." She lightly snuggled into his chest where he still sat on the sofa, and a relieved Harry wrapped his arms around her. Then she turned on the twins, her expression completely different. "But you two, scaring my Husband like that. How could you?" She drew her wand quickly, and pointed it at them threateningly. They rose their hands in front of them, as if they were going to try to fend of a spell.

"Really Ginny..."

"...we didn't mean..."

"...anything by it..."

"...We just saw..."

"...a perfect oppurtunity..."

"...to tease you..."

"...and we wouldn't..."

"...be us if we..."

"...didn't make use..."

"...of it immediately!" They attempted to placate her.

When Ginny growled slightly, Harry leaned down and lightly kissed her cheek. He then whispered in her ear "It's OK. The twins are known for teasing everyone and I did kind of set myself up for it."

Slowly her wand lowered, until she sighed and put it away again. The twins relaxed slightly. Fred got a small grin. "Protective much?" He asked his sister.

"Watch it!" She responded, her hand reaching back for her wand.

"I think lunch would be an excellent idea Harry old chap!" George said, slightly louder than was strictly speaking necessary, in an attempt to diffuse the situation. Harry removed his arms from around Ginny and stood, then held a hand out to her to help her up as well. She smiled at him appreciatively as she took hold and he pulled her to her feet. Pulling her into a quick hug, he whispered, "I think you've scared them enough for today." Giving her a quick peck on the cheek again, he turned around, keeping Ginny's left hand in his right. "Let's go." He said to the twins, and with that, they headed down to the great hall for lunch.

* * *

As they'd only had one day of classes, and neither Professors Lupin, Sprout nor Hagrid had set any homework, Harry and Ginny chose to spend the free weekend this afforded them exploring the castle. They spent Saturday afternoon wandering about hand in hand, enjoying some time together, but quickly realised they couldn't use the map. They were out in the open, and the corridors were rather busy as it was quite cold outside on the grounds.

In the end, the pair decided to just head back to common room, and play some games for the evening. They spotted Neville Longbottom, from Harry's Dorm, and Demelza Robbins, from Ginny's Dorm, sitting at two adjacent tables in the corner of the common room, which were otherwise empty. They made their way over.

"Hey Neville." Harry said. "You want to join us for a game of exploding snap?"

"Oh, um... sure, Harry." he replied. "Just let me put this book back in the dorm, I was reading up on what we'll be learning about in Herbology this year."

Harry quickly told Ginny, "I'll be back in a minute, I just want to get my exploding snap cards from my trunk." He quickly followed Neville up the stairs. This actually served another purpose, now at least some people would see him going to his trunk in his dorm, so they'd be less likely to believe the rumours about him sleeping elsewhere.

While he was gone, Ginny turned to Demelza, who had been watching the conversation out of the corner of her eye. "Hi Demelza, would you like to join us?"

"Sure Ginny, but are you sure you want me to?"

"Yes, we're sure. I know we didn't get to talk much last year, but there was a very good reason for that. It's too long to explain now. You want to play then?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun, its not like I have anything else to do this weekend."

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry had reached his dorm, and moved over to his trunk, pulling it out from where it rested slightly underneath his bed. As he rummaged around the bottom for his deck of cards, he heard a throat being cleared behind him.

"Um, Harry?" Neville's tentative voice asked.

"Yes Neville?"

"Why did you ask me to play, I mean you've hardly spoken to me these last two years."

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. I was too caught up in having my first real friends in Ron and Hermione, to try befriending anyone else. Now that they, or at least Ron, is angry with me, I realise I need all the friends I can get. The only reason I'm not wallowing in self pity from Ron's actions is that I have Ginny now, but I need to have other people I can talk to."

"But why me then, why not Dean or Seamus?"

"You're a very smart and able boy Neville, and don't say otherwise. You do really well in Herbology, and I bet without Snape breathing down your neck, you could perform quite well in Potions. The other subjects you just need a bit more practice. But beyond that, I've seen you with the younger years, trying to be helpful and caring towards them when they want to speak to someone. I need more people like that in my life. And who knows, maybe eventually we'll get some practice time, and you might see your grades improve!"

"Thanks Harry, I never thought of myself as all that special."

"Your welcome, now do you want to head back downstairs, I've found my cards."

"Let's go."

* * *

They arrived back downstairs to find that Demelza and Ginny had claimed a small circular table with four chairs in the corner. Sitting down Harry dealt out the cards, and they had an enjoyable game amongst friends.

A short while later, Ron and Hermione clambered through the portrait hole. Upon spotting them, Ron's face turned angry, and he stormed off up to the dorm room. Hermione on the other hand, looked wishfully over at them, and frustratedly at Ron's retreating back. Ginny was slightly confused at what she saw, but put it to the back of her mind.

* * *

After their game of exploding snap, it was getting quite late, and past the curfew for first through third years. Harry took his exploding snap cards back upstairs, and snuck his invisibility cloak into his pocket before returning to the common room. The four new friends talked a bit longer about what they were looking forward to that year, before heading upstairs to bed. Under the guise of a goodnight kiss at the bottom of the stairs, Harry stealthily slid the invisibility cloak into Ginny's hand.

"Go upstairs, and pretend you're going to bed. Then use the charm the twins told us about before slipping under the cloak and coming to my room." He whispered in her ear.

Harry watched her as she walked up the girls stairs, then turned and made his way up the boys side. Once in his dorm he went through his nightly routine, bid goodnight to his friends, and pulled his curtains almost all the way round. Luckily, he had the bed next to the door, so he left a small gap open closest to the door. He whispered "Apparent Dormio" while pointing his wand at the bed, and watched as the covers and pillows rearranged themselves to a state which looked well slept in. It would also help his case that Ron had been in the dorm and watched him close his curtains, so thought he was there that night.

A short while later, the curtain rustled slightly and moved to the side next to the gap, to leave more space. Suddenly, Ginny appeared from underneath the cloak. Harry quickly held his finger to his lips, silently telling her to be quiet. He got off the bed and joined Ginny under the cloak. They carefully made their way back downstairs, avoiding the other boys heading to bed, and reached the portrait hole just before eleven.

The two teens knew that the Prefect patrols ended at eleven o'clock, and that in order to avoid arousing suspicion they needed to leave the portrait hole invisible while it was in use by someone else. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the two Gryffindor fifth year prefects turned up, having the patrol closest to the tower, and they quickly snuck out of the portrait hole as the Prefects climbed in. Harry quickly withdrew the Marauders Map from another pocket, and scanned their route to the Study.

It appeared to be clear on the main staircase, so they quickly made their way to the centre of the castle, and came out onto a balcony. Currently there were no staircases to that balcony, but one was starting to turn towards them, so they decided to wait for it, as the teachers were all elsewhere. Luckily, once it had reached them, a route all the way to the third floor was available, so they managed to get down very quickly.

Outside the entrance to the Study, Harry handed the map to Ginny so she could keep a look out, as it would be obvious when he opened the door. While those walking past couldn't see it closed, they would be able to when it was open. Just as he was about to open the door, Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled him back, backing them against the far wall. Just then Professor Sprout walked past, patrolling the third floor. Once she turned at the end of the corridor, Harry moved forward and raised his arm again, opening the door. They quickly entered the study, and closed the door behind them before taking the cloak off. Godric appeared to already be asleep in his portrait, so they made their way into the master bedroom and left the invisibility cloak folded on the bedside table, before getting into bed and curling up together, with one of Harry's arms over Ginny, wrapping round her back to hold her close.

* * *

The next morning, Harry once again woke before Ginny. After a few minutes of watching her sleep peacefully, he slipped quietly out of the bed, and headed to a new door they hadn't noticed before. Remembering what Godric had said before, he could guess what was behind it given what he'd been thinking they really needed, and sure enough, Harry opened the door into a spacious ensuite bathroom.

One side of the room had a large bathtub along the entire length of the wall, with a shower head at one end, along with several taps for filling the bath with different scents of water. On the other side of the room, stood several cabinets, and a sink, above which a large mirror was setback slightly, so as to be flush with the wall. On the far end to the door, a set of rails were attached to the wall, with several towels hanging off them, and when Harry reached to touch one he found it quite hot. He quickly withdrew his hand. Below the heated rails a discrete flap was hidden in the wall, blending in well until you pushed it open. Harry assumed that it led down to the laundry, similar to the chutes found in the dormitory bathrooms of Gryffindor Tower.

Harry quickly retrieved the set of clothes he'd been wearing on the train. The house-elves had washed them, and hung them up in the large wardrobe standing in one corner of the master bedroom, as if knowing that he would be sleeping there. They'd done the same with Ginny's muggle clothes from the train. Re-entering the bathroom, he locked the door and turned the shower on.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, a fully refreshed Harry Potter emerged from the bathroom, to see Ginny still sleeping peacefully on the bed, slightly more spread out than she had been while he was there. She looked so cute lying there that Harry wished he didn't have to wake her, but a quick glance at the clock showed that he did, if she wanted to get a shower before breakfast ended.

He sat down lightly on the edge of the bed closest to Ginny. Leaning over, he then placed a light kiss on her lips before stroking his fingers through her long fiery red hair repeatedly. "Come on Ginny, time to wake up." He whispered in her ear.

Ginny slowly stirred to Harry's hands running through her hair, and him whispering in her ear. Still half asleep, she curled in on herself slightly, and murmured, "Don't want to get up - comfy, still sleepy!"

"I know Gin, we've had a busy few days, but you need to get up if you want a shower before breakfast. Look - the Study has given us a great bathroom."

With his gentle urging Ginny eventually rolled out of bed, until she was sitting next to Harry on the edge. Standing, Harry pulled her to her feet, then led her by their joined hands over to the wardrobe. "Look, the house-elves have brought our clothes from the train here, so you go take a shower, and I'll clean up in here before we head to breakfast." He gave her a gentle push in the direction of the bathroom.

"Thanks Harry." She responded sleepily as she closed and locked the door.

* * *

Half an hour later, Harry and Ginny, holding hands, emerged from Godric's Study and made their way down to the great hall for a late breakfast. Walking in, it seemed that they were not the only ones to rise late that morning, and the majority of the hall was already full. Ron and Hermione were sitting about halfway down the table, but they spied Neville sitting at the other end, on the main aisle side, and decided to join him instead.

"Morning Neville." They said, simultaneously, then immediately clapped their free hands over their mouths.

Neville didn't seem to think anything was amiss. "Hi Harry, hi, Ginny." He said. "You're a bit late for breakfast, aren't you?" He commented.

"We just struggled a bit to get up this morning, is all. You mind if we sit with you?" Harry spoke, with Ginny making an effort to stay quiet.

"No that's fine. What are you going to do today?" Neville asked as they sat down.

"Not much - we'll probably take a walk around the grounds - less likely to run into Ron out there."

"Why are you suddenly avoiding Ron all of a sudden? Sorry - I know its not my place to ask, but you used to be best friends, then yesterday he was shooting death glares at you."

"No, its OK Neville. He just seems to have a problem with me and Ginny being together. I don't kno-"

"Oh come on Harry, you do know why!" Ginny broke in. "He's being an overprotective git. He thinks he needs to protect me from all boys for my entire life. Where he gets off doing that given he ignored me for practically the whole of last year I have no idea."

"I think he might be trying to make up for that." Harry turned to Ginny.

"Don't try to make excuses for him. I think also its because he's jealous. For two years he and Hermione have been your only friends. He's had to share everything with me for pretty much his whole life, I think he liked having you as a friend and didn't want you to split your time between him and me. But it doesn't matter - you chose me over him."

"Of course I did, and I always will." Harry leaned it to give her a quick kiss.

Neville had looked away politely, but when it became apparent they were done, he picked up his questioning. "So you two are together then? I'd heard the rumours, but didn't know if they were true." He asked.

Harry and Ginny started loading food onto their plates, but Ginny answered. "Of course we are - Harry realised just how wonderful I am and I wasn't going to turn him down."

"Of course that's how it happened." Harry muttered.

"Shush you." Ginny said sharply to him.

"Sounds like there's quite a story there." Neville commented.

"Of course, like everything surrounding Harry. But we can't tell you here. Too many people around. We'll find someplace private eventually to tell you, but for now it will have to wait."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand if it is private."

"We don't have to, but we want to. You're our friend. And really its not private, just secret - not everyone should know about it." Ginny said, starting to eat.

"I'm honoured you trust me enough to keep your secrets." Neville said, humbly.

"Of course." They fell silent then, all three eating quickly before breakfast ended.

* * *

A short while later, Harry and Ginny finished off their breakfast, then rose as one and joined hands. Saying goodbye to Neville, they headed out of the Great Hall, and onto the grounds. Unconsciously making a beeline for the Great Lake, they wandered across the grounds in a peaceful silence. Nearby the lake, Harry spied a copse of trees and pulled Ginny with him behind them.

Giggling, Ginny asked him "Harry! what are you doing?" Barely staying on her feet from the abrupt tug on her wrist.

"I've got the invisibility cloak and Marauder's Map with me. I thought we could try exploring again, now that no one else will be able to see us."

"That's a great idea!" Ginny said eagerly. "But first..." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulling his head down pressed a short but firm kiss to his lips, before pulling away. Slightly dazed, Harry reached into his pocket and withdrew the cloak, throwing it over their heads before retrieving the map from his other pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." With a quick tap, the map activated, inking crisscrossing lines onto itself to map out the castle, and finally adding the markers for where everyone in the castle was. They made their way out of the copse and back around the lake - the copse was quite a way around from the castle, making it even more private, as very few actually wanted to venture that far - many acceptable spots could be found on the castle side of the lake.

Eventually arriving at the castle, Harry and Ginny crept back inside, past the doors to the Great Hall, and then down a hallway the other side of it. Eventually they reached a staircase down a level, below the ground. They had spotted what appeared to be a service corridor, as all that was down there was the kitchen and the laundry rooms, as well as a few other unmarked rooms. However, what had drawn Ginny's attention, and made the pair want to head there first, was what appeared to be a secret passage from opposite the kitchen up into the main castle. So it was that they descended into the bowels of the castle, finding another corridor at the bottom of the stairs.

Further down the corridor, they stopped outside the room labelled as ' _Kitchen_ ' on the map and removed the cloak - no one else was around. As the staircase had doubled back, the kitchen was now somewhere on their left, with the passage they were investigating on their right. Deciding to forgo the kitchen for now, they turned toward the tapestry on the wall to the right, evenly spaced three metres apart from several other tapestries down that hallway, looking as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. Reaching out, Harry pulled the tapestry back to reveal a blank wall.

Disappointed, Ginny stepped forward. "What happened? Why do you think the passage isn't here?" She asked.

"I don't know. I guess the castle may have just shut it up after years of abandon, but somehow I doubt it. And presumably, the Marauders used it, if they knew about it. It would be a very useful way to reach the kitchen undetected."

"Wait a minute Harry. Look here." Ginny had been running her fingers over the wall carefully. "See - there's a slight notch. The shadows inside it blend in well with the stone wall - even up close it can pass as just a darker coloured stone."

"I see Ginny. Do you reckon it is significant?"

"I'm sure of it. Let's see." She ran a finger around the inside of the nook, around the edges. When she reached the top, she felt something give slightly, and moved her hand away, jumping back in surprise. "Something moved!"

Before Harry could reply, the wall shimmered slightly and disappeared. Whereas before had been there had been a solid stone wall, now there was air, and the pair could clearly see the passageway behind it. Daringly, Harry stepped through, with Ginny following closely behind him. As soon as they cleared the entrance, another shimmer preceded the wall reappearing in its original location. This time, Harry searched for another nook on the wall, while Ginny cast "Lumos" to give him some light to see by.

Before long, Harry had found another nook, it was in the same location as the other side - in the direct centre. Pressing up with a finger inside it, the wall once again disappeared. "How do you reckon it decides to reappear?" He asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it has an enchantment to 'know' when the users have passed through, then closes up after that." Ginny replied.

"I guess that could work." Harry said. "Let's test it." He stepped back out into the corridor, and once again Ginny followed him. Sure enough, the wall closed up behind them. Activating it once again, Ginny led the way this time, her wand outstretched in front of her with the tip still lit. Harry followed behind, watching the wall close up to seal them into the passage. Looking at the Marauder's Map again, he traced the route of the passage, noting it was mostly a steep staircase, with a few landings on it.

They walked in an eerie silence for about 10 minutes, noting that there appeared to be no obvious change in the walls the entire way up. Unless every door to this corridor was the same as the one they first encountered down near the kitchens, the passageway seemed to be completely enclosed, with only two ways out - one at each end. Finally they reached the end of the passageway, there was nowhere else they could go, so Ginny put her hand to the wall again and started running it across the cold, hard stones.

Once again, the middle of the wall was home to a nook, which Ginny pressed up in causing the section of wall to disappear. Stepping out, the couple realised that they had come out behind a suit of armour in one of the fourth floor corridors, roughly halfway between the History of Magic Classroom and the Hospital Wing. Like before, the suit of armour was one of many down the corridor, so it looked in no way out of place.

Quickly checking the map to ensure that no one was nearby, Harry and Ginny clambered out from behind the armour, and into the main corridor. They made their way down to the Study Area, which naturally was deserted. The Study Area was generally used by students needing to complete homework outside the noisy confines of their common room, and away from the watchful eye of Madam Pince in the library. It was shared by all four houses, and as such, very few Slytherins were ever seen in it - they didn't tend to like mingling with the other houses.

The empty study area suited them just fine, as they'd spotted another two secret passages on the map leading from the room. Ginny pulled back a tapestry in one corner, while Harry studied the map. His marker gained a speech bubble containing tiny writing, which read _Draconifers_.

"Draconifers." He said steadily, aloud, while Ginny looked at him strangely. She had no idea why he was saying that. But sure enough, the wooden panel behind the tapestry slid aside, opening up the passage.

"How did you know that was the password?" Ginny asked.

"I didn't. I was just looking at the map when a speech bubble appeared next to my name, with Draconifers written in it. I just said it aloud, and the door opened."

Ginny gasped. "Do you think the map will show you the password to any door?"

"It might - I guess we'll have to test that theory sometime." In silent mutual agreement, they stepped through the doorway, which closed behind them. Following the corridor down a short flight of steps, this journey was a lot quicker than the last, only descending one floor. They emerged from a darkened alcove at the far end of the corridor containing the entrance to the Study. As the corridor was in general empty - there was nothing of importance at the end of it - the door to the passage was unlikely to be noticed. They made their way back up to the Study Area, just pushing the door aside this time (there was a handle on the inside), and headed to the other side of the room.

This secret passageway was more well-known - they'd seen students use it before but had never used it themselves, not knowing where it came out. As a result of its near constant use, there was no door over the end of it, just a somewhat threadbare canvas sheet. Harry held it back to allow Ginny through first. Again because it was well used, this passageway was lit, unlike the other two, by flickering candles on one side, so Ginny did not need to light her wand again.

They climbed the three flights of stairs ahead of them, and exited out onto the seventh floor landing through a portrait hole not unlike the Fat Lady, leading to Gryffindor Tower. Closing the portrait behind them, they turned to speak to its inhabitant. As soon as he saw them however, he said "What villains are these that trespass upon my private lands? Who dares challenge Sir Cadogan? Back, you scurvy braggarts, you rogues!"

Taken aback by the sudden questioning, Harry and Ginny were surprised, and it showed on their faces.

"Yes you, answer me! Who are you young ones, who dare challenge the great Sir Cadogan? Why have your travels brought you here, my private lands?"

Ginny studied the portrait closely. In it, she could see a short man holding an oversized sword, and nearby a fat pony, in a grassy field. The pony was too busy eating the grass in the portrait to care what was going on around it. "You're Sir Cadogan! From the Tales of King Arthur!" She exclaimed.

"Who?" Harry asked dumbly. He really hated being brought up in the Muggle World sometimes - he had no idea what she was on about.

"He's one of the knights of the Round Table - one of the lesser-known ones at that. He doesn't appear in any muggle versions of the tale I don't think, so you wouldn't have heard of him." Ginny answered him knowledgeably.

"Lesser-known? I'm wounded! I defeat the great Wyvern of Wye, risking my very life in such an endeavour, saving the West from an existence of tragic misery, and the tale is not told across the world?"

"I'm afraid not sir." Ginny told him. "But I don't know why."

Sir Cadogan sighed. "Oh how the world has forgotten - the ignorance! Now, villains, you still haven't answered me - who are you and why are you here? I'll drive you off!" He brandished his sword, seemingly forgetting that just two minutes ago he'd been having a civil conversation with Ginny, and that he'd spent the last few centuries in a portrait.

Harry spoke up. "Oh, well, I'm Harry, and this is my girlfriend Ginny. We just came through the passageway behind your portrait and wanted to see where it came out."

"I know we're on the seventh floor." Ginny continued. "Do you know how to reach the entrance to Gryffindor Tower from here?" She asked the knight.

"Aha - a quest! That's my type of life! Let us begin, we will find the Tower of Gryffindor as quickly as possible." He ran towards the left of his portrait, then immediately turned around and headed the other way. "This way - let the adventure begin!"

Sir Cadogan started running through the portraits, from one to another, following the corridor. Harry and Ginny tried to keep up with him, noticing the trail of destruction he was leaving behind in each painting. In one, an important looking dinner between several dignitaries had been interrupted, the food being thrown to the floor as the table was overturned by the knight jumping over it. The occupants of the portrait were all shouting at him as he departed for the next.

"This way comrades, it's not far now!" He shouted back at the pair.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, they finally arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. She was looking in horror at the knight who had just entered her portrait uninvited. "And what are you doing here?" She asked crossly.

"Why, my dear lady, I'm helping my comrades find their way - they got lost around my corridor." He lifted one of her hands, then bent over and pressed his lips to it quickly before letting it drop. The fat lady surreptitiously wiped it with her handkerchief.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny had caught up and were watching the exchange with some amount of amusement, although Harry couldn't help but think there must have been a quicker way than the route they had just been taken on.

Sir Cadogan turned to them. "Farewell, comrades. If ever you have the need of a noble heart and steely sinew call upon Sir... Cadogan."

Ginny replied quietly, so that he couldn't hear her, but Harry could, "Yeah, we'll call you... if we ever need anyone as crazy as you."

Harry grinned slightly, but managed to hold onto his laugh until Sir Cadogan was out of earshot, leaping dramatically through the portraits back to his own. It seemed his laughter was infectious, as Ginny joined in.

"Really, that man!" The Fat Lady huffed. "I spend a nice Sunday practicing my glass-breaking singing, and he comes barging in to interrupt me!" This just caused Harry and Ginny to laugh harder. "Well, do you want to go in?" She asked impatiently.

Eventually Ginny managed to stop laughing long enough to gasp out, "Yes please."

"Password?"

"Fortuna Major." She said firmly, having recovered, with Harry in the process of doing so.

"Thank you." The Fat Lady said, displeased at having to wait so long. She swung her portrait forward, and Harry and Ginny climbed in the portrait hole.

"Why don't you go and get a change of clothes or two in your bag, and meet me back down here in about ten minutes?" Harry asked. "We cant take them downstairs and have another set of clothes to wear."

"That sounds like a good idea." Ginny replied. They parted ways at the bottom of the staircases, Ginny turning left and Harry right.

* * *

Ten minutes later Harry and Ginny met up again in the common room. Luckily, no one was there as it was lunch time, so they didn't have to worry about looking strange carrying their schoolbags around on a Sunday. Harry drew out the cloak and threw it over them again, before they made their way back to the portrait of Sir Cadogan, using the map this time so it was a lot quicker.

Staying invisible, they pulled back the portrait and clambered into the hole behind it, closing it back in place. Sir Cadogan didn't seem to have made it back from their earlier 'adventure' yet, so didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. His fat pony looked around once, then seemingly deciding nothing was the matter, went back to eating the grass in the portrait again.

The pair quickly made their way down to the Study Area, and across it into the other passageway. They emerged into the corridor containing Godric's Study again, and with a quick glance at the map to make sure no one was around, they entered the room.

"I guess we'll just have to repeat this for a while until we have everything of importance down here with us." Harry commented. "We can't just lug our trunks down four floors, and they need to stay upstairs to keep up appearances anyway."

Ginny made a sound of agreement as she hung the two sets of clothes she'd brought down up in the wardrobe. "We'll just have to go back upstairs early tomorrow. I couldn't bring my school robes down so I'll have to get changed up in my dorm. Maybe we'll find a way around that soon. If the worst comes to the worst, it won't be for too long. The elves seem to know we are, for all intents and purposes, living out of this room, and so our washed clothes and robes will reappear back in this wardrobe. Once we've worn every set of robes, and brought all our muggle clothes down, we won't need to continue these trips anymore."

"Yes, that's true." Harry stated as he hung his own two sets of clothes up. "I made the same decision about the robes." He placed the second hanger back onto the pole and closed the door, then turned and took Ginny's hand. With a glance at the clock, he asked, "Now what do you say to lunch. It's too late to eat in the Great Hall, but now that we know where the kitchens are, we could go and ask them for a picnic, to take out to our spot by the lake."

"That sounds like a good idea." Ginny replied. They left the study, with Godric once again asleep in his portrait, and used the secret passageways to make their way downstairs to the basement corridor. Once again they could see on the map that the kitchen was just through the wall opposite the secret passageway, but the only thing on the wall was a painting of a fruit bowl. Not knowing what else to do, Harry walked up to it and looked at the map again.

As before, some text appeared above his name and footprints, but not in a speech bubble this time. It read, 'Tickle the pear'. Shrugging, Harry did so, using his forefinger and middle finger to lightly tickle the pear in the fruit bowl depicted. Before long, the pear giggled slightly, and the painting swung forward to reveal the kitchens. Four long tables filled the middle of the room, perpendicular to the doorway so that they matched the house tables in the Great Hall above. Around the edges elves were hard at work at a large amount of stoves and sinks, an more elves were scurrying around, carrying stacks of plates from the tables to the sinks, and collected food from various cupboards and cold cupboards at the left hand end of the room. At the other end, several doors led out of the kitchen, but Harry and Ginny could not see where they went. The room was well lit, with a large number of candles hovering above the tables, much like the ones in the Great Hall above, although the ceiling wasn't enchanted to look like the outside sky in the kitchens.

Immediately after entering, Harry and Ginny were accosted by several small elves, crowding round the pair. "Good afternoons, Sir and Miss, is there anythings we can do for yous?" The elf at the front asked, excitedly. She was practically jumping on the balls of her feet.

It was Ginny who spoke, while Harry was busy taking in his surroundings as well as putting the map and cloak back into his pockets. "Would it be possible to have a picnic in a basket? We want to take a walk on the grounds and we missed lunch."

"Certainly, Sir and Miss. Right aways!" The elf said, and the group all scurried around the kitchen collecting food into a basket that appeared on the Ravenclaw table, the closest to where Harry and Ginny currently stood.

The basket filled up quickly, and Harry and Ginny spotted lots of cakes and other treats entering amongst the other, more savoury items. Eventually, one elf declared it full, closed the lid on the basket, and waved his hand over it, creating a silver glow that descended into it. He carried it over to the pair.

"Here's you go." He said. "I's has put a featherweight charm and a preservation charm ons it. We hopes its to your likings!" He piped up, handing the basket to Harry.

"Thank you very much - you were very quick getting this prepared." Harry said. The elves almost fell over at the praise.

"It was nothing's. Be sure to comes back if you ever want anythings else!" The elf said.

"We will, thank you." Ginny assured, as they clambered out of the hole, and watched the fruit bowl swing back into place, the pear seemingly falling back to sleep. "They were very happy to help us." She commented.

"Yes, it seems they like ensuring everyone is well fed - they couldn't stand the idea that we might have missed lunch." Harry replied. They headed back up the stairs to the main entrance, and out onto the grounds, before strolling over to their new found copse of trees by the lake.

Setting the basket down, Harry opened it to find a blanket that he had seen be placed in at the end sitting on top, nearly folded. He withdrew it, unfolded it, and lay it over the ground near some trees at the back of the copse, but away from any roots. Its location afforded anyone sitting on it a wonderful view of the lake, while simultaneously hiding them from the sight of anyone walking around the lake, passing close by the copse. Ginny sat down on the blanket and pulled the basket over, removing some of the top items and arranging them around her. Harry sat down behind her, leaning against a tree trunk, and pulled Ginny back to nestle between his legs, her head on his chest and his arms around her stomach.

They spent the afternoon lounging in that position, Ginny occasionally taking a bite of food from the array available on the blanket, and sometimes feeding a bite to Harry. The rest of the time they spent cuddling, and getting to know each other even better than they did already.

* * *

Eventually, they got up, replaced the uneaten food in the basket and folded up the blanket, before Harry picked up the basket in one hand and took Ginny's hand in his other. They made their way back to the castle. They had missed dinner as well, but that was fine due to the sheer volume of food in the basket - they'd barely eaten half of it. They ventured back up to the seventh floor to visit Demelza and Neville in the Gryffindor Common Room, before repeating their actions the night before and sneaking out of the portrait hole as the Prefects returned to get to Godric's Study, though this time with another two sets of clothes each.


	15. New Lessons

**A/N** \- Sorry it's been so long between updates - I've been so busy the last few months, and its going to continue to be that way unfortunately. Here's another chapter, not as long as some of the others but introduces the remainder of the new lessons, so is quite important. Next chapter, Quidditch and Hogsmeade - so it starts getting exciting! Don't forget to review - it encourages me to spend more time writing, so the chapters come quicker and longer! **(Disclaimer in Chapter 1)**.

 **Chapter 15 - New Lessons**

The morning of the fourth of September found Harry awake bright and early. Like the previous morning, he took his shower first and changed into one of the sets of clothes he had brought down the night before, before watching Ginny peacefully sleep for a while, until he finally decided he had to wake her up if they were going to get to breakfast at any reasonable sort of time.

Dropping a quick kiss on her forehead, he gently whispered in her ear "Ginny, it's time to wake up." Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked at him sleepily. "Come on, have a shower, then put on some of the clothes you brought down yesterday. We'll need to go back to the dorms to get into our uniforms, and breakfast starts soon."

"Ok" Ginny murmured, heading for the bathroom, via the wardrobe to collect some clothes to wear.

* * *

When she returned, Harry checked the Marauders Map before they left the study through the door into the seventh floor corridor, and made their way along to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Luckily, it was still early enough that most people were still inside their dorms getting changed, so they didn't look suspicious entering the common room early in the morning. Once inside, they parted to go up the separate staircases to their respective dormitories, in order to chang into their school uniform.

Meeting each other back in the common room as soon as possible, weighed down by their school bags, the pair headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast, managing to be some of the first there. They wanted to get an early start as they would need to eat as much as possible - Monday was their busiest day with all six periods having a lesson. An hour into the meal, Harry and Ginny spotted Ron and Hermione entering the Great Hall, but luckily they decided to sit a good distance down the table. It wasn't long anyway before Harry and Ginny finished eating, and left early to give themselves a bit of time to get to their first lesson, Ancient Runes.

* * *

They made their way up to the sixth floor, where the Ancient Runes classroom was located, and waited outside the door. They were a little surprised that Hermione had been so late to breakfast, as normally she would be the first to a lesson in the morning, but didn't think much of it. After all, she had entered the hall with Ron, and knowing him, despite his eagerness to eat all of the time, he would have struggled to get out of bed that morning, after a summer of lying in.

Just before the start of the lesson, Harry and Ginny saw most the class walking down the corridor, and so took the opportunity to enter the classroom. They'd waited outside to give themselves a bit of time on their own, rather than the possibility of them being in the room with their professor. They made their way to the front of the room and sat at one of the desks with only two chairs, taking their quills, ink and parchment from their bags, along with _Ancient Runes Made Easy_ and _Ancient Runes: First Dictionary_.

Soon, the rest of the class filed in behind them, with Hermione near the back of the group. She looked slightly put out at being one of the last in and so having to take a seat in the middle of the room, sharing a desk with a Hufflepuff rather than near the front as she would have preferred. Her look changed to one of shock when she saw Harry and Ginny watching her from the front row of desks.

Suddenly, the door opened again and in walked Professor Babbling, calmly making her way to the front of the room, levitating a pile of sheets of parchment in front of her. Hermione quickly looked away from Harry and Ginny, and set about removing her things from her bag, aghast at the thought that she might miss taking notes at the very start of the lesson. She was a rather tall, slim woman, however she had forgone wearing a witch's cap with her black robes.

"Good morning class." She said loudly, silencing all the murmuring from near the back of the room. Hermione gave an audible sigh of release as she managed to get herself sorted ready to take notes just as the professor deposited her pile of parchment onto her desk. Moving to the board, she began speaking again, but in a softer voice.

"In this class we will be studying the use of Ancient Runes in the current age. For the OWLs, you need only have studied Gorchantt's Runic Principles, and the Eldar Futharck Runic Language. These are covered in the two textbooks I hope you have with you this year. You will struggle severely if you do not possess these, as the Dictionary especially will play a major role in the topics we cover before Christmas.

"After the OWLs, should you choose to continue with this subject, you will have two choices available to you. The first is to study the Eldar Futharck Language, amongst some others, in greater detail, and the other is to delve into the mysterious depths of Ancient Hieroglyphs and Logograms. This choice will be especially important when considering future career paths. Both options have their own NEWT Exam, so knowledge of the other is not required to get a good grade. I wish to see each of you do your best in this subject as we foray deeper into the world of runes, however be warned, I will not continue to teach any slackers beyond the OWLs, so I expect you all to try your hardest. Understood?"

"Yes Professor." The class chorused, while Hermione hastily attempted to scribble down everything the Professor had just said, while still listening.

"Now, how many of you have already looked inside the Runic Dictionary?" Professor Babbling asked. Harry, Ginny, Hermione and most of the Ravenclaws raised their hands. The rest of the class shifted uncomfortably. "No matter, I didn't really expect you to before the first lesson." She said kindly. Hermione looked aghast at not opening a book before its use in a lesson. "If you would all open it to the first page now please." There was a sudden burst of rustling as they all moved the items on their desks around and opened their dictionaries in front of them.

"Now, what can you notice about the runes on the first page?" The Professor asked. Hermione's hand shot up, followed by Harry's and Ginny's, along with a few Ravenclaws.

"Yes Mr Goldstein?"

"They're not arranged in alphabetical order Professor."

"That is partially correct. What showed you that this was the case?"

"Well, here one of the first words in the dictionary is _hidden,_ which is in no way the first word in the language, and that is closely followed by _missing_."

"That is quite right, so I'll give 2 points to Ravenclaw for a partially correct answer. Now can anyone tell me why this is the case?" Professor Babbling asked. Harry, Ginny and Hermione put their hands up again, although Hermione looked a little unsure, but less of the Ravenclaws did so. "Yes Mr Potter."

"They are in alphabetical order, but by their Latin translations, not English. However, the dictionary doesn't show Latin."

"That is correct, Mr Potter. Five points for Gryffindor for a fully correct answer." Hermione was shocked, she was only guessing, but couldn't risk not putting her hand up or she wouldn't be seen as the smartest witch in their year anymore. However, the Latin translations wasn't anything she had considered before. "Now, let's look at those words you selected again shall we Mr Goldstein?" She flicked her wand at the board, and chalked writing started to appear. "Hidden translates to _absconditus_ in Latin, while missing translates to _absentis_. Now can anyone suggest why this might be the case. Yes Miss Weasley?" Ginny's hand had risen again, as had Harry's although he knew she wouldn't pick the same person twice.

"When most Ancient Runes were originally created, Latin was a more generally used language, so that is the order that they have been kept in now. It is quite similar to the way most of our modern day spells have some basing in the Latin language."

"That's correct Miss Weasley - another two points for Gryffindor. But what does this mean for you learning Ancient Runes? Miss Abbot?"

"We can't just look every rune up - we need to know where about it will appear in the dictionary, due to its Latin translation, before we can find out what it translates to in English."

"Correct. Two points for Hufflepuff. You must have a basic understanding of what any rune means when you see it, before you can look it up to make sure you have got it correct. Thus is a quirk of the Runic Dictionary, however even if it was not ordered in Latin, but in English, it would help very little. True, there would be no intermediary step to the translation, but you would still need a basic idea as to where it is in the dictionary to find its true translation."

"That's stupid!" A Slytherin boy commented. "How are we meant to know what the runes are then?"

"That will be 10 points from Slytherin for shouting out, Mr Zabini!" Professor Babbling said sharply, her eyes flashing as she turned to face him. "However, to answer your question, you practice. As you will soon learn over this course, Runes have many similarities and differences that help with grouping those with similar meanings, and distinguishing those with opposites. It is my hope that the most able among you in this subject will be able to tell the most basic runes apart, and even their meanings, by the end of this academic year. Indeed, if you have not learnt a sufficient number to a high enough standard by the end of your fifth year, you will struggle come the OWLs." The more runes you learn, the easier it will become to predict the translations of those you haven't seen before, and to find them in the dictionary."

With another flick of her wand, the sheets the professor had levitated into the room were distributed amongst the class. "Now then. On this sheet you will see there are some runes, and also English and Latin meanings. You will notice that the meanings in the two languages are already paired together. Your task is to pair these meanings with their corresponding runes using your Dictionary. Once this is completed, you will have a few runes remaining. These must be found by yourself. You are not expected to go through the entire dictionary, but instead use what I just told you - the runes can be grouped together into sets with similar meanings."

The rest of the lesson was spent on the exercise, with the class trying to match the sets, and work out the remaining runes. Harry and Ginny were among the first to finish, while Hermione took a little longer, making sure she wrote down everything she could about the runes first. At the end of the lesson, Professor Babbling announced, "Right class, Homework! For next Monday, I'd like six inches from each of you on the arrangement of runes in the Runic Dictionary, and how we can find runes like you have done in today's lesson. Also, those of you who didn't finish it, please complete this exercise by the next lesson. Dismissed!"

* * *

At the beginning of transfiguration, the class as a whole was more subdued than usual. Professor McGonagall changed back from her animagus demonstration to see a class full of glum-looking faces. "Now what!s the matter you lot? That's the first time my transformation hasn't gotten a round of applause from the class!"

Neville shakily raised his hand, and Professor McGonagall turned to look at him. "Yes, Mr Longbottom?"

"Professor, we've just arrived from Divination. Professor Trelawney, she, well..." Neville trailed off.

"Say no more, I understand. Who did she predict was going to die this time?"

"Um, Harry, Professor." Neville said, looking over at his dorm-mate apologetically.

Parvati Patil spoke up. "She was upset that he wasn't taking her class, and said she could see a tragic death in his near future."

"I see. Well, I assure you Mr Potter, that Professor Trelawney has made the prediction of a student's death every year since she arrived here in 1981 - this is the twelfth year. None of them have come true yet. Are you feeling under the weather at all?"

"No Professor." Harry answered honestly.

"Then you will forgive me for not excusing you from today's homework. Of course, should you pass away before our next lesson, you need not hand it in." There were a few nervous chuckles around the room.

The rest of their double transfiguration class passed quickly, with Professor McGonagall first, teaching, then asking the students to attempt to perform, a transfiguration to turn a tortoise into a teapot. None of the students were very successful, although Hermione's tortoise was decidedly rounder than it had been to start with. The professor informed them that it was a step up from their transfigurations the previous year, and so they would be continuing wit hit for at least the next lesson. She did however set them homework to study the theory behind the transformation carefully, as "it is easier to perform a spell when you know the background behind it".

* * *

After lunch, the Gryffindors accumulated in the potions classroom, deep in the dungeons. Every Gryffindor third year was accounted for five minutes before the start of the lesson, but when the lesson did actually start four Slytherins were missing. Professor Snape stalked in with his cloak billowing around his legs, slamming the door behind himself. He gave a few sharp jabs of his wand at the board, and a list of potions appeared.

"These are the potions we will be studying this year. It is highly likely at least one of them will come up on your OWLs in two years time, so I should hope you _pay attention!_ 5 points from Gryffindor Miss Granger, I expect you to look at me whilst I'm speaking." He looked towards Hermione, who was busy scribbling down the potions listed on the board. She looked up quickly to see the Professor's angry face pointed at her, and hurriedly lowered her quill to the desk.

"As I was saying, it is highly likely that some of these will appear, either in the theory or practical, of your OWL examination. This year, we will be brewing potions on Mondays in this lesson, and studying the theory behind them on Thursday, in our other period together." He sounded sarcastically thrilled as he said this. "Now, why are you not taking notes Potter? Another 5 points from Gryffindor. How do you expect to remember anything I tell you if you don't right it down? I don't do this for my own benefit you know." Harry quickly looked down at his parchment, dipped his quill in his ink, and started writing down everything Snape had said so far, ignoring his hypocritical comment, as he had just ordered Hermione to stop taking notes.

Suddenly, the door opened and Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson hurried in, taking their seats near the front of the room. Snape just glanced their way, but made no comment on their tardiness. "Now, as we have not studied the theory behind any of these potions yet, it would be foolish for you dunderheads to attempt to brew any of them, therefore I will be issuing a quiz. It will be interesting to see who remembers anything about last year, and who has read ahead. I have no doubt that most of you will know the answers to next to nothing on this test. I will be quite surprised if anyone gets above an Acceptable Grade."

It was obvious to Harry that he wanted to try and catch Ginny out, by giving her a test on potions that she never should have seen before. However, he wasn't worried. He and Ginny had had a lot of spare time over the summer, especially after going to the Leaky Cauldron, in which they had studied their textbooks - both second and third year. Potions was something they had concentrated on, as Harry had expected Snape to try something like this. Hopefully, the Professor would be sorely surprised, not just at Ginny's performance, but his own improvement too.

With another quick, precise flick of Professor Snape's wand, a stack of parchments distributed themselves around the room on everybody's desks. The board was also cleared of the list of potions it had held. "You will have until the end of the lesson. Begin!" He strode around his desk to his own personal cauldron, and started stirring it, while adding a pinch of powdered frog spleens. Harry looked down at his parchment, and turning it over, started to write.

* * *

"So how do you think that went?" Harry asked as he left the room with Ginny, on their way to their first Arithmancy class.

"Pretty well - I couldn't work out what some of the potions were though." She replied.

"No - Snape's set us another impossible test. We always think when he says 'read ahead' he means into the next year - some of those potions were only mentioned in passing and others not at all. I think there was at least one in there from NEWT level!"

"But why would he set us something that we would have no possible way of completing? I mean, I know he dislikes Gryffindors in general, but that seems a bit, I don't know, excessive."

"Not where I'm concerned." Harry said. "He hates me, and is always trying to find any way possible to mark me down. He must know something about what happened last year, and so hates you now as well. He'll see it as a personal insult that a Weasley was advanced a year. I think he's trying to catch you out. While it was only a small number, there were some potions in that test that we should have known from last year. If we hadn't read the textbook over summer, you'd have no chance of knowing them." Harry said sadly, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.

"I guess its a good thing we anticipated something like this and concentrated on Potions when reading the textbooks over the summer - and bought all those extra books to help too." Ginny commented. "He's going to be so surprised!"

* * *

Ron walked sullenly out of the Potions classroom, near the back of the crowd. Up ahead, he saw Hermione disappear quickly around a corner. He didn't think he minded too much - while she might be his only good friend at the moment, he wasn't sure he could stand her disapproving looks when she heard how badly he'd performed. He was sure he'd failed the potions test - he'd only known for sure the answers to three of the fifty questions. He had given a good guess for another 5, but the rest he had been completely lost on. Ron had always seen the summer holidays as a time to forget all about school, to ignore any work and mess about having fun before September. Luckily for him, most teachers seemed to understand that not much would get done - sure they set summer homework, but there was never too much. Snape however, was completely different.

It was the same pattern every year - they would come back to Hogwarts excited to learn more magic. However when they got to their first potions lesson, that excitement would be completely wiped out as Snape systematically denigrated every Gryffindor in the room - making them feel inadequate for not reading the whole of the next year's textbook without being asked to over the summer. Ron never did any more work than was absolutely necessary.

This year, the insulting was in the form of their test. The previous year it had been a surprise practical on one of the harder potions from first year - the forgetfulness potion. It had been on the First Year Final Exam, but as the entire year had performed poorly, he had decided to have them brew it again. Unfortunately, it required a certain ingredient that while on the first year ingredients list, did not feature for second years - nobody had it, and Snape was less than pleased when he had to allow them all to use some from his stores - "You should always be prepared and have any ingredients you may need on hand!"

Their first year, it had started with Snape immediately asking Harry those three questions - none of the answers had even come up yet, now two years,p into their course. But no - Ron wasn't even thinking about Potter at the moment, while the boy was probably off snogging his sister somewhere. Startled, Ron realised that he inadvertently shared something in common with the Greasy-Haired Git of a Potions Teacher - they were both experiencing a dislike of Harry Potter. Shuddering, Ron turned his thoughts back to the corridor he was walking down.

"Ron. Ron! RONALD!" He heard behind him as he started up the stairs. Stopping, he turned to see Hermione running towards him.

"How did you get there?" He asked. "I saw you ahead of me when I left Potions."

"Bathroom." Hermione managed to get out. Getting her breath back, she asked "How did it go for you? I think I got question 34 wrong, and I could have written the answer better for question 50, but I was running out of time. Of course, there were also the ten questions from NEWT level that I only partially knew the answer to, but I hope I can manage an Exceeds Expectations."

"Abysmally." Ron said, dismal once more. He had hoped to avoid this conversation.

"It can't have been that bad." Hermione said sympathetically. "After all, only 50% is needed for a pass, and any pass is good in Professor Snape's class."

"I knew the answers to three questions, all right Hermione? Three bloody questions! I guessed another five. There is no way I'm getting above a Troll!" He stormed off ahead, angrily muttering about persistent witches, while Hermione watched his back, upset with his attitude.

* * *

In the Arithmancy classroom on the seventh floor, Harry and Ginny once again took a pair of seats at the front of the room. Soon after them, Hermione came in, looking worried about the previous lesson's test. She took a seat two desks down from them, with a Ravenclaw they vaguely recognised but couldn't put a name to.

Suddenly, Professor Vector strode in purposefully. Her red robes flowed around her as she made her way to the front of the classroom, and she wore a matching red witch's hat on her long, thin black hair.

"Listen up class - there will be no misbehaving in my lessons, and I expect you to always pay attention. That being said, taking notes is a very important part of the subject of Arithmancy. Many of even the simplest calculations can easily be gotten wrong from lack of taking notes. To this extent, I will assume that anyone scribbling anything down while I am talking about something important is paying close attention, while anyone looking away from their parchment and out the window," she said specifically looking at a Hufflepuff near the back. The other person at his desk, one of his housemates, shoved his arm slightly to get his attention focused back onto the strict Professor. "will be considered to be ignoring me. Ignorance is not something I tolerate in my lessons, so if this is you, I invite you to leave now." Nobody moved.

"Good. Now then, the study of Arithmancy is a complicated branch of magic, but extremely useful all the same. For example, have you ever wondered why the precise duration of a wand movement, or the number of constituent parts a wand contains, matters? These are not things many witches or wizards know, but are just two of the many topics we will be investigating in the next three years. In addition, we will be looking into the magical numbers and what they mean for us, and for those of you who remain on this course at NEWT level we will even find the strengths of our own magical cores.

"Many of the topics we will cover in this course require exquisite knowledge of several complex calculations, or you will find it impossible to keep up. To that extent, we will be spending the first month of lessons concentrating on the main calculations that will help in the year to come. For example, with simple maths and also more complex calculus methods, we will be able to go on to calculate numbers to tell our personalities, and also to predict future events, just as the Ancient Greeks did.

"I have found that my students tend to come into my lessons with different amounts of knowledge of the basic subject of mathematics. I have found that those raised in the muggle world, attending school before Hogwarts, have a base understanding of the calculus methods we will be extending our knowledge of, while the Purebloods tend to have only an understanding of the simplest mathematical principles. I mean no disrespect to your parents' teaching methods, but 8 have found this to be the general case in years past, as subjects are only taught to a basic level and not more in depth such as they are at a muggle school. For this reason, we will all be starting with some of the simpler principles this week, and will move onto the more complicated calculations when everyone is ready, to keep the class in the same place."

Hermione looked put out at having to wait potentially several weeks to get to anything complicated or challenging, as Harry had no doubt that she already knew everything that they were about to be taught. On the other hand, he realised he probably know most of it too, despite not being allowed to try when he went to school, lest he do better than Dudley in any tests.

Suddenly, Harry felt a feeling of sadness wash over him in the background of his mind. Glancing at Ginny, he saw she looked worried. Recalling what he had heard Professor Vector say about Purebloods, he remembered that that was Ginny's position, she potentially knew next to nothing about what they were about to learn. He knew she wanted to be able to prove herself, and didn't want to be behind the majority of the class. Harry wasn't too concerned, he knew she was naturally smart and would pick it up in no time, but when he saw her going slightly pale, he silently vowed to talk to her after the lesson. He didn't want her to go putting herself down because she was starting behind some of the others in the class.

For the remainder of the period, Professor Vector gave them some exercises to do with Pythangoras' Theorem and Trigonometry, as "Triangles are very important in the world of Arithmancy. The entire unit on predictions is worked from different triangles, so this understanding will help you greatly in the future."

* * *

At the end of the lesson, Harry and Ginny left the room near the back of the group and noticed Hermione ahead hurry into the Girl's Bathroom. Not thinking anything of it, they made their way down to dinner.

After returning to Godric's Study that night with another set of clothes each from their dorms, Harry pulled Ginny down onto the couch next to him. "What are you so worried about?" He asked softly.

"Who said I was worried about anything?" Ginny retorted, though Harry could see she didn't mean it.

"Come on Ginny, I saw you in Arithmancy when Professor Vector was explaining that some people might currently know more than others, and Purebloods usually knew the least. Does it bother you that you might not know everything that our classmates do?"

Ginny visibly wilted under his gaze. "Yes, Harry. I'm used to having a basic understanding of what's going on, but today I was completely confused. I've never even heard of Pythagoras before and now I find out there's some important theorem we need to know that he came up with? Most of that lesson made no sense to me!"

To Harry's dismay, he saw some tears start to well up in the corners of her eyes. Turning slightly, he pulled her onto his lap and gently wiped the tears away. "There's no need to cry Ginny, I didn't understand a lot of it either. We learnt Pythagoras at school before my first year, but its been so long I barely remember it. And the Trigonometry was completely new. I can't imagine its very different for most of the others. I think I even saw Hermione confused at one point."

"But I don't understand it at all, and Professor Vector seems to think that everyone will just understand it when they see it. How am I supposed to learn if I can't talk to her?"

"She does seem a bit strict, doesn't she." Harry agreed. "But as for how you can learn - I can help you. I know I don't understand it much more than you do, but maybe if I explain what I do know to you, it might help you with the rest. You very smart naturally, after all - I'm sure with my current knowledge and your natural smartness we can help each other to understand the rest in no time. There must be some books in the library on it too."

Ginny blushed at the compliment, and replied shyly, "Thanks Harry, you always know how to make me feel better."

"I'm glad - I've not got a clue how to do it for myself. Now try and give me a smile, and we'll go to bed. We've got a long day again tomorrow, and we can start our Arithmancy homework in our free lesson in the afternoon." Professor Vector had asked them to finish the exercises they hadn't done already in time for the next lesson.

"That sounds like a good idea - I'm knackered." Ginny agreed.


	16. Extracurricular Activities

**A/N:** Here's another chapter for you all finally - hopefully as exams come to an end I'll have more time for writing than I have had recently. I know this chapter doesn't contain much substance to the overall story, but rest assured, the main plots will be coming back shortly. Incidentally, if anyone has any ideas for good pranks, I'm all ears... ( **Disclaimer** in Chapter 1).

 **Chapter 16 - Extracurricular Activities**

The rest of the week passed very quickly, with new lessons and homework consuming most of Harry and Ginny's free time. However, they still managed to find time to ferry more of their belongings down to their new rooms. Before long, Saturday morning had arrived, and found both Harry and Ginny walking down to the Quidditch Pitch, ready for practice.

Harry had found Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, earlier in the week to suggest the idea of some reserves. To be honest, Harry wasn't sure why it hadn't been thought of before - really, given the rate of accidents and injuries during Quidditch, reserve teams would be a logical addition. It had taken some persuading, but with a reminder of what had happened at the end of Harry's first year, when he was in the Hospital Wing unable to play in Gryffindor's final game, even Wood was forced to admit that reserves were a good idea. So by that evening, a notice had gone up on the Common Room Noticeboard, stating that tryouts for reserves would take place on Saturday at 9AM.

They arrived at the Quidditch Pitch just before 9. Most of the rest of the current team were already waiting on the pitch, while looking behind him, Harry could see a small group of hopefuls walking down the hill to tryout. A few other Gryffindors were waiting in the stands to watch the tryouts, but luckily, there was no sign of anyone from any of the other three houses.

When everyone had arrived, Wood called the hopefuls to order. "Hopefuls, listen up!" He shouted. "As you should already know, we are only fielding a reserve team at these tryouts - our starting team is already full. If anyone has any problems with this, I suggest you leave now." He went silent, but nobody moved. "Alright then. It was under the suggestion of our Seeker that we hold these tryouts, as I'm sure we remember what happened two years ago when he was stuck in the Hospital Wing unable to play. As Harry pointed out, it is always good to have a contingency plan. So, due to the possibility of any of the reserves plying in any game this year, the usual rule of no first years will apply. Could any first years head to the stands now please." Again he went quiet, and this time two young boys moved off, upset.

"OK. We seem to have quite a few of you left, so we're going to split this up. Could I have Chaser hopefuls in the middle, Beaters at that side," he pointed to the right, "Keeper tryouts at the far rings, and any Seekers to stay where you are." There was a small amount of chaos as everyone trying out moved around the pitch, making sure they were in the correct place for their position.

Once everyone had moved, Wood turned to speak to his team. "Ok Harry, there don't appear to be any Seeker hopefuls, so you can help Fred, George and me with the Chasers. Then we'll move onto the Beaters and Keepers, having Katie, Alicia and Angelina playing along with the successful reserves against each Keeper tryout, while the Beaters get a bit of practice aiming the Bludgers. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, although Harry did speak up. "I know that Ginny hadn't totally decided what position she wanted to tryout for - Chaser or Seeker. Her preferred was Chaser, so that was the group she went with, but I think she would be an excellent Seeker if we came down to needing one last minute. I'll try my best not to get injured this year however."

"Ok, that sounds good. Tryouts probably won't last until 11, so if you want, you could give Ginny a bit of practice Seeking once we are done." Wood suggested.

"I can deal with that." Harry said with a smile.

"Alright then." Wood shouted to the field. "We're going to start with the Chasers, so if everyone else can move into the stands closest to where you are, we'll begin." He walked over to the Chasers as the other hopefuls moved off the pitch. "Each of you are going to be playing alongside our three current Chasers, and trying to score against me. We'll be trying to find those who can not only score the most, but assess the situation and make appropriate decisions."

One by one, the Chasers took it in turns to tryout, each spending about 10 minutes in the air. To Harry, it didn't feel like much time had passed when all six hopefuls had finished. Ginny had been last, and had not only scored every hoop she attempted, but also set up some nice passes to the other Chasers as well. Wood flew back down to the ground, and gathered his team together.

"OK. What are your thoughts? Katie, Angelina, Alicia - yours are the most important as it will be you that any reserve Chaser may have to play with. Who fit in best?"

Angelina spoke up first. "Ginny, without a doubt." Her fellow Chasers nodded in agreement.

"She set up some amazing passes to us, not to mention failed to miss a shot against you Oliver." Katie elaborated.

"I know, I'm shocked. I'm glad I won't be playing against her, although I do realise that more practices may be in order!" The team groaned. "But I agree, Ginny will definitely be on the reserves. In fact, girls, the only reason that she isn't a starter right now is solely because you three got here first." Harry just smiled to himself - he knew Ginny deserved this. "OK, what about the other two?"

"Neil Randall managed to make a lot of hoops, but we couldn't really work with him. It seemed he was more eager to attempt the shot himself, even when it would have been better to pass it to one of us." Alicia commented.

"I noticed that Natalie Fairbourne missed all but one of her shots." Fred observed. "I don't know how well she worked with you three in the sky," he admitted, "but I don't think she's worth the effort."

"Are they required to attend all our practices as reserves?" Katie asked.

"That would be the idea." Oliver clarified. "Why?"

"I was speaking to Vicky Frobisher and Anna Mirfield before breakfast. They admitted that they would choose Charms over Quidditch practice if there was a clash - they're both part of the club, you know."

"That would be problematic, given how often Charms meets." Oliver agreed. "Vicky was trying out for Keeper, but I think we can agree that Anna is out?" With nods from the rest of the team, he continued. "That settles it then. Dean Thomas and Demelza Robins will be the final two reserve Chasers."

He turned to the group of hopeful Chasers. "Quiet everyone!" He shouted. "We've reached a decision. The reserve Chasers will be Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas and Demelza Robins. Thank you everyone who tried out, if you were unsuccessful you are welcome to stay in the stands and watch the rest of the tryouts. Our three new reserves, get in the air with Katie, Alicia and Angelina. Keeper and Beater hopefuls, come over to me."

Oliver and Harry waited in the centre of the pitch, along with Fred and George, as the now six Chasers rose to the sky. Once the Beaters and Keepers had arrived, Oliver spoke again. "OK then. We're going to have all Beater hopefuls in the air at once, using the two Bludgers against the six Chasers up there waiting. Keepers, we'll have you one at a time, blocking from all six Chasers. You'll have 10 minutes each. Weasley, you're up first."

Harry did a double-take. _'Weasley?'_ He thought. Turning around, Harry saw Ron mounting his broom nervously. It was obviously a borrowed school broom - a Shooting Star if Harry guessed correctly - the thing looked like it would barely stay in the air. Harry silently thanked Fate that he and Ginny had gotten to the broom shed first, so that she could get the best broom of the lot, a Nimbus 1700, the predecessor of Harry's Nimbus 2000. It still wasn't anywhere near as good as the rest of the team's brooms, but Ginny's skill out balanced that. Harry frowned slightly as he watched his former friend wobble into the air, and up to the hoops. Ron still hadn't spoken to Harry or Ginny since their confrontation after Care of Magical Creatures the previous week.

Harry turned to watch Ron in front of the hoops. He wasn't sure how he felt about the youngest male Weasley being on the Quidditch team, even if it was the reserves. Truthfully, he'd been so concentrated on Ginny earlier in the tryouts that he hadn't noticed that Ron was even there.

Throughout the next ten minutes, Ron managed to make five saves, of the ten shots aimed at him - it wasn't brilliant, but anyone had the potential of getting better with a bit of practice. Oliver called the next hopeful into the air, "McLaggen, you're next!" Cormac McLaggen, a rather large, wire haired fourth year rose into the sky on his own broom, a Cleansweep 7, the same broom as Fred and George had. Again, Harry turned to the sky. He knew that it was down to him and Oliver to choose the reserve Keeper, as the twins were busy watching the Beaters, but he kept getting distracted by Ginny's amazing flying, with her long red hair streaming behind her.

Soon, McLaggen was finished, saving seven of the twelve shots made. He landed at the side of the pitch looking very smug and full of himself. "Frobisher, your turn!" Oliver shouted. She took to the sky on her borrowed Cleansweep 5. Harry looked on, trying hard not to get distracted by a Bludger flying quite close past Ginny as she raced towards the hoops with the Quaffle. She aimed to the right, and threw the ball. Vicky Frobisher flew to block it, and the ball sailed straight through the hoop to the left. "A perfectly executed feint." Oliver said quietly, as Harry grinned.

Once her time was up, Frobisher returned to the ground and Oliver called all the other players down. The six Chasers walked over to join the rest of the team, as the Beater and Keeper hopefuls grouped up a short distance away. "Alright then," Oliver called for the attention of the group. "Let's discuss the Keepers first. We'd already mentioned that Frobisher might not be worth it, given her commitment to the Charms Club. So that leaves it down to Ron Weasley and Cormac McLaggen. Any thoughts?"

"McLaggen saved a larger number of his shots." Harry commented.

"Yes, although he seems to have a bit of an attitude, I noticed." Angelina said.

"That's true. Not only do we need a good player, we need one who could work well with the team. Personally, I think we need to go for Ron. I'm not sure I could work with McLaggen without someone getting seriously injured." Oliver said.

"I agree with that." Katie input, while Alicia and Angelina nodded alongside her.

"Ron will need a bit of work." Ginny noted. "He only managed to save half his shots."

"While that's true," Oliver said, "we've got several weeks until our first match against Slytherin. A lot of improvement can be made in that time. And even then, I'm not planning on being injured any time soon. This needs to be a team agreement. It seems like whoever we pick will result in problems, but that's to be expected. Who do you reckon is best to go for?"

"Ron." Katie started.

"Ron." Alicia, Ginny and Demelza agreed.

"Cormac. He was better, just, and we can try to get him to lose his attitude." Angelina justified.

"I agree with Angelina." Said Dean.

"Ron." Fred and George decided.

Harry sighed. Unfortunately, it was a matter of picking the lesser of two evils, even if one of those was his former best friend. "Ron, I guess. He'll be better for the team in the long run, but I hope he doesn't get on my nerves too much first."

"I reckon Ron is best as well, so as a majority that's decided." Oliver concluded. "Now, Fred and George - what were your opinions of the Beaters?"

"Jack Sloper and Geoffrey Hooper -" Fred started.

"- were definitely better, they were -" George continued.

"- hitting the Bludgers stronger."

"But they didn't work well together -"

"- as a team. Colin Creevey and -"

"- Ritchie Coote worked better together -"

"- and would probably be the best bet -"

"- with a bit of training up." George finished.

"So Colin Creevey and Ritchie Coote would be the best choice then?" Oliver confirmed. At their twin nods he continued, "Well, you'll have to train them up during practices, so if you think you can get them to be the best players they can be then we'll go with them. Everyone OK with that?"

When everyone had agreed, Oliver turned to address the waiting hopefuls. "Listen up!" He shouted, over the general hum of chatter as they awaited the team's decision. "Our reserve Keeper will be Ron Weasley, and our reserve Beaters are Colin Creevey and Ritchie Coote. Thank you everyone for coming out. Can the new team wait on the pitch, everyone else can head back up to the castle - I'm sure you'll appreciate a nice shower now."

When the unsuccessful hopefuls had all left, he spoke to the remaining group. "Our first practice will be next Wednesday at half seven, after dinner, and will last an hour. All of you will be expected there, as everyone needs to train as much as possible. Any of you reserves could be playing if one of our starter team is injured, so you have to be prepared. Harry, Ginny, wait for a second, everyone else can go get changed."

Soon it was just the three of them left, and Oliver addressed Ginny. "Harry mentioned that you were undecided about Chaser or Seeker. As we didn't have anyone turn up to try out for reserve Seeker, I'm giving you the opportunity to take on the role, in addition to reserve Chaser."

"Let's face it - I am the most likely to be injured." Harry pointed out with a wry grin on his face. Ginny frowned, she didn't like to think of Harry getting hurt, but knew it was inevitable, and so eventually nodded in agreement.

Oliver continued. "Harry, you've got another half hour of the pitch being booked, make the most of it to get Ginny practicing as a Seeker. That is, if you do want to take it on?" He asked Ginny, turning to her.

"Of course I do!" Ginny said excitedly.

"Well that's decided then." Oliver smiled. "I'll see you later." He walked off into the changing rooms at the end of the pitch.

Ginny turned to Harry. "You told him that I was interested in both positions?" She asked him.

"Yes, no one came to try out, and I mentioned that you had been thinking about it, and that I thought you would be great in either position."

"You do? Thank you thank you thank you!" She said quickly, giving him a hug.

"You're welcome!" Harry laughed. "Now, let's get in the air and get some practice done - we have the pitch all to ourselves so we can have some fun!" He shot of into the air, with Ginny quick to follow behind him. "Let's start with Follow the Leader, I'll lead first then we'll swap over." Harry said.

He started off slowly, and gradually increased his speed as he led Ginny through an increasingly difficult routine of turns, swoops and feints that he'd had to use in games. He was pleased to see that Ginny followed him perfectly through all of them - many were designed to be used in order to get the opposing Seeker of one's tail. He decided to make one last turn, barrelling vertically up into the air before levelling out behind himself, so he was hanging down off of his broom. After flying along a little way, he twisted, righting himself, then flew back down to where Ginny had stopped to watch him.

"That was excellent Ginny!" He praised. "But why didn't you follow me for the last one?"

"I didn't know if I could, to be honest. I mean, I know I can do similar moves on the brooms at home, but this broom is so old that I'm not sure it could have handled that without stopping flying, so I didn't want to risk it." Ginny answered.

"Good thinking. It's always important to know the limitations of the broom you're flying. You don't want to try something like that in a match, then have the broom splutter out beneath you, letting you plummet to the ground." Harry said. "Now it's your turn to lead for a bit."

Ginny flew off, and also gradually picked up speed as she continued, like Harry had. Harry followed her through the first few turns and feints, then became mesmerised by her long, fiery red hair flying behind her and the joyous look on her face. Without realising it, he slowly pulled to a stop, hovering in midair, and just watched Ginny enjoying herself flying around the pitch.

Soon Ginny noticed that she was no longer being followed. She slowed to a halt next to Harry, and asked with a smile on her face, "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"I stopped because I kept getting distracted by you. Your hair looks wonderful streaming behind you in the wind." He replied lovingly, reaching out a hand to run through it.

"I think you're barmy, but thank you anyway. However, I do need you to follow me at some point, so I can see if I can lose you, oh Youngest Seeker of the Century, on some of those turns."

"There's not much point as I see it at the moment. You're more than able to, I can see that much, but the broom is holding back your ability - it's too slow. As it is, I could follow you through anything I've seen before, but I know if you were able to fully let your ability reign free, I wouldn't have a chance."

"Oh. What can I do then? It's not like I'm just able to get a broom." She asked dejectedly.

"Next practice, I'll see if I can get hold of some golf balls. That's how Oliver taught me to find and catch the Snitch. And we'll see if we can work on some new moves for our first match, so that if you do end up playing Seeker you will have an arsenal of feints and turns that the opposition will struggle to follow you through, even on that old broom." 'And hopefully by that point I'll have had the chance to buy you your own broom.' He added in his mind.

* * *

Late the next morning, Ron was just waking up. Obviously, being a weekend, he wasn't going to get out of bed before he needed to. When he finally made his way downstairs, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the Quidditch Tryouts the day before.

He'd seen Ginny up in the air trying out for Chaser, and was shocked. As far as he knew she'd never flown before, but the moves she had been pulling off spoke of someone who'd had a lot of practice, regardless of the quality of broom she'd been riding.

It had upset Ron a little to see her there actually. This had been his first chance to try out for Quidditch, something to make him stand out more, and also give him more time to try and get friendly with Harry again. After all, what with them both being on the Quidditch team they'd be spending much more time together. But when he'd turned up to see Ginny waiting, her one hand clasped tightly in Harry's and the other holding one of the school brooms - and a Nimbus 1700 at that, much better than the Shooting Star he'd been left with - he'd been annoyed. And jealous, probably, although he still wasn't ready to even properly consider that emotion, let alone admit it. It was clear she'd got to the broom shed before he had, as by the time he had gotten there none of the remaining brooms were anywhere near that good.

As he reached the common room, the sound of an intense conversation broke through his thoughts. He noticed a group of people crowded around the notice board. Wondering what could be on there, he made his way over to look. He could only see one new notice - the Quidditch Team. Turning away, he wondered what the fuss was about - after all, everyone had known there had been Quidditch Tryouts. Then, he heard a bit clearer what one of the voices was saying.

"She's got two positions. Sure they're both reserves, but that's got to be unusual."

Confused, Ron turned back. He hadn't been aware of anyone getting two positions. Of course, no one had even tried out for reserve Seeker, but still. He looked over the list, and his emotions started to swirl inside him. The list read:

 **Position . . . . . . . Name**

(S) Chaser . . . . . . Angelina Johnson  
(S) Chaser . . . . . . Alicia Spinnet  
(S) Chaser . . . . . . Katie Bell  
(S) Beater. . . . . . . Fred Weasley  
(S) Beater. . . . . . . George Weasley  
(S) Keeper . . . . . . Oliver Wood (C)  
(S) Seeker. . . . . . . Harry Potter

(R) Chaser . . . . . . Ginny Weasley  
(R) Chaser . . . . . . Dean Thomas  
(R) Chaser . . . . . . Demelza Robins  
(R) Beater. . . . . . . Colin Creevey  
(R) Beater. . . . . . . Ritchie Coote  
(R) Keeper . . . . . . Ron Weasley  
(R) Seeker. . . . . . . Ginny Weasley

His sister had gotten two positions on the team, and so was that much more likely to play that year, especially given how frequently Harry got injured. Ron spun and quickly left the common room, heading for an abandoned classroom he knew was just down the hall.

By the time he reached the room, the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside him had settled somewhat into just one - anger.

 _'How did she get two positions?'_ He thought to himself. _'The reserve team is new this year as well - there should have been loads of people trying out. And she can't even play Quidditch anyway - I've never seen her fly before yesterday.'_

It didn't take long for Ron to realise why he was so annoyed. Getting on the Quidditch Team had been a goal of his, and now Ginny had sort of beaten him to it. She was younger, and had two positions instead of the usual one. Ginny was going to become the centre of attention for the reserve team, while he, Ron, was pushed to the side. It didn't occur to him that there were five other players on the reserve team that also wouldn't be getting much recognition.

All of his brothers had stood out in someway - Bill and Percy as Head Boys, Charlie as Quidditch Captain, and even Fred and George as infamous pranksters. Now Ginny would be standing out from her appointment to two positions on the reserve team this year, and some pretty much guaranteed time playing in one of their matches that year. She could be playing if one of four players was injured, whereas he would only get the chance if Oliver was injured and unable to play. Given he was the captain of the team, that seemed unlikely.

Ron sat brooding a while longer, until his stomach decided to make itself known. Realising he'd been distracted on his way to breakfast and that it was now almost lunchtime, he quickly made his way to the Great Hall so as to be one of the first able to eat.

* * *

A few Sundays later found Albus Dumbledore, esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts, dressed up as a a short elderly witch. It had quickly become apparent the first weekend of term that possibly a wizard as well-known and revered as himself would draw a large amount of attention buying a love potion, and there might be questions asked as to its purpose.

Instead, he had spent the past month brewing Polyjuice Potion. He had retrieved some of the ingredients from his Potions Master, and procured the others himself, so as to avoid suspicion. It was for this reason that he hadn't just asked Severus to brew the Polyjuice for him, or even the love potion - while he trusted Severus not to say anything, the use of a love potion was illegal, and Dumbledore wanted to cover all traces of having anything to do with it, if its use were even to ever come to light.

That morning, he had transfigured a old set of his robes into much shorter, new, witch's robes, in preparation, and had then downed a dose of the Polyjuice, gagging slightly at the taste. Knowing he only had an hour, he quickly changed into the robes and flooed from his office to the Leaky Cauldron.

He had retrieved the hair for his potion from an elderly witch at the ministry the previous day, on one of his regular trips there for Wizengamot Meetings. One of the unfortunate by-products to his position as Chief Warlock was the requirement to be present at all Wizengamot Meetings, which were incredibly frequent, given how much actually got decided at them.

The witch had been on her way to St. Mungo's having received some minor spell damage from a malfunctioning paper airplane message, that was shooting mild hexes everywhere it went. She had accidentally knocked into him in the Atrium, and when she had seen who it was, had started apologising profusely, until Dumbledore had patted her shoulder, saying "No harm done." When she had continued on her way, Albus stealthily pocketed the strand of hair he had collected from her shoulder in a small vial, and continued onto the Wizengamot Meeting.

With a final spell aimed at his throat, to temporarily alter his voice, Albus stepped through the magic brick wall into Diagon Alley. He made his way along to the end, and into Knockturn Alley, trying to be careful to stay in character, adding a slight hobble to his step. Although love potions were technically illegal, like anything, there was a black market for them. And after all, one didn't simply live over 150 years without learning some things.

While Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary on Diagon Alley sold only legal potions and ingredients, his branch in Knockturn Alley had a backroom dedicated to the potions of a more questionable nature. Of course, they didn't come cheap, but the Dumbledore family went back a long way, and with Albus' many roles in the current society, he had accumulated a reasonable amount in his vault.

Making his way through the main shop into the backroom, he spoke to the wizard behind the small, rickety counter. "I don't suppose, you have any love potions do you?" He asked, his altered voice rather squeaky, as he pulled the transfigured shawl closer over his face.

The expression of the man behind the desk didn't falter, as he continued reading his magazine. "How do I know you're not someone from the Ministry?" He asked. This was the limit of the black market's intelligence - leave nothing on display, and ensure no one from the Ministry purchased anything.

Albus withdrew a small pouch from his pocket, and upturned it on the counter. "30 Galleons, and you don't ask any questions." He squeaked.

The young wizard, perfectly demonstrating his greed for money, turned and eagerly scooped it into his palm. "No questions." He agreed quickly. He reached under the table, and withdrew a small vial, with a pink heart on the cap. He held onto it as he said, "That will be another 30 Galleons."

Albus inwardly winced, but showed no exterior emotion. It pained him to be spending this much on the potion when he could have bought the ingredients and brewed it himself for a meagre 2 Galleons. However, that wasn't an option, so he withdrew another pouch, and set it on the table, holding onto it.

They both slid their possession towards the middle of the table, swapping which one they were holding at the same time as each other to avoid being tricked by the other. When he had the potion, Albus turned and left, saying "Thank you sir."

"Have a nice day madam."

Albus hurried back towards the Leaky Cauldron, stuffing the potion vial into his pocket before emerging into the light of Diagon Alley. He flooed back into his office with a carefully cast silencing charm on the floo, so nobody would hear where he went. And just in time, as he stumbled out the Polyjuice started to wear off, leaving the venerable wizard standing where a witch had been just seconds earlier. Now all he had to do was get it into Harry's drink. That could take a few days, so he resigned himself to a bit more waiting.


	17. The Trials of Hogwarts

**A/N:** Sorry this one took so long to write, but I've got time on my hands now! I have a plan, and I won't be able to spend all my time palying games on my computer next year, as I won't have it with me, so that gives me plenty of time to write more of this. I'll try not to take too long over the next chapter! This chapter is where we start to leave canon, with all events currently happening but in different orders to the original books. (Disclaimer in Chapter 1).

 **Chapter 17 - The Trials of Hogwarts**

The next few weeks passed quickly for the two teens and before long, it was the week of the first Hogsmeade weekend. As neither Harry or Ginny had permission to visit the nearby wizarding village, they had put together the start of some plans to spend the day together. That all changed however, when Oliver Wood entered the Gryffindor common room that Thursday evening.

"Team!" He called out, and not just the Quidditch team but every member of the house currently in the common room turned to look at him. "Professor McGonagall just told me - the order of Quidditch matches this year has been rearranged. Due to Ravenclaw only having one returning member for their team, they've requested for their game against Hufflepuff to be postponed next week. The staff have decided that instead, we will be playing our match against Slytherin for the first game of the year."

The sudden uproar in the common room could have been heard from the top floor of dormitories, seven floors up. Many were demanding how this was fair, as Gryffindor had been practicing thinking that their first match wasn't until December. Now it had been pulled forward to the middle of October.

"QUIET!" Wood bellowed. Once everyone had settled down again, he continued. "Due to this, I feel we need more time practicing if we want any chance to win the cup this year. I know practice is normally cancelled for Hogsmeade weekends, but this Saturday I'm reinstating it. And instead of the normal two hours from 9am, we'll practice for four, then you are welcome to spend the rest of the day in Hogsmeade. So team, be ready in the changing rooms at 9am on Saturday." With that, he made his way through the common room and up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.

Most of the team's responses to this were along the lines of "He can't do that, can he?" Some, like Ron, had wanted the full day for their first visit to Hogsmeade. Others had made plans for the day. Fred and George walked over to where Harry and Ginny were sitting on one of the sofas, and sat on another one, across from the pair.

"What do you..." Fred started.

"...think of this?" George finished.

Harry and Ginny glanced at each other, before Harry responded. "It doesn't bother us too much." He admitted. "Neither of us can go to Hogsmeade, so we had planned a few things to do around Hogwarts. All of them can be moved to the afternoon though. I guess it was a good thing we hadn't finished making our plans yet." He added, with Ginny nodding in agreement, before she continued.

"One of the things we were thinking of doing was going for a fly together, so really, we'll still be doing that, but just with an obsessed Quidditch Captain breathing down our necks." The four all laughed.

"I was hoping to get a date, myself. Ah well, guess she'll go to Hogsmeade with someone else now." Fred said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, same for me." George agreed.

"Ooh!" Ginny grinned. "Who are the unlucky girls to be set in the sights of Fred and George Weasley, Resident Twin Pranksters?"

"That's none of your business, little sis." The twins replied simultaneously.

"Oh come on." Harry pushed. "Just tell us."

"Fine. Angelina Johnson." Fred said.

"Alicia Spinnet." George added.

Harry and Ginny fell about laughing. Fred and George just stared at them, looking quite put out that the younger teens appeared to find this humorous.

Eventually, Harry recovered enough to speak. "Had either of you asked them to go yet?" He enquired.

"No." Both twins responded.

"We were..."

"...going to..."

"...ask later..."

"...today."

Ginny spoke up now. "I suggest you get on with it and ask them. Besides, they're in the same position as you." When they looked at her inquisitively, she elaborated. "It's what we found so funny. You realise they're both on the Quidditch team as well don't you?"

The twins turned toward each other. "Gred?" George asked solemnly.

"Yes Forge." Fred replied.

"We appear to have forgotten a fundamental part of our chosen girls' lifestyles."

"Indeed. However it is proving to be rather fortunate that our sister here is remembering."

"Yes - I'll ask Alicia later. She's less likely to be asked by anyone else now that she has to stay here half the day."

"I concur, dear brother."

As quickly as it was assumed, the serious air was lost, and the joking twins were back. "Enough about that." George declared, before both twins leaned closer and started whispering. "We need to start planning our first prank guys." Fred continued.

"Yeah, we're over a month in to the school year - pranks should have been flying by now." George continued.

Harry thought about this. Sure, they hadn't pulled any pranks that year yet as they had planned to, but then they hadn't really had a deserving target. Finally, he reached a decision. "I guess we'll meet up outside _the rooms_ the Sunday after our Quidditch match. There's no point making any plans before then - Wood will probably ruin them by scheduling another extra practice."

"Agreed."

"We'll be there."

After a little more joking around the twins left again, presumably in pursuit of their chosen dates, leaving Harry and Ginny to their homework.

* * *

Before long it was Saturday morning, and the Quidditch team had al reluctantly congregated in the changing rooms.

"All right then." started Wood, as he entered from the Captain's Office. "We're going to start with a pickup game, starters against reserves. We won't play with Seekers, so Harry, I want you to just fly around the pitch and practice avoiding the Bludgers from both teams. After that we'll work on improving a few of the position specific moves we've been practicing for the last few weeks."

* * *

Four gruelling hours later, the team rushed back into the changing rooms to get a quick shower in before heading down to enjoy what time they had left in Hogsmeade. Despite being long and arduous, practice had gone well, and they felt prepared for the match next week, given they had one final practice that Wednesday evening.

Harry and Ginny watched as the rest of the team disappeared through the front gates in the carriages, past the line of watching dementors, before turning and heading into the castle. They had organised with the house elves in the kitchens to get a picnic lunch, which they could take to eat out by the lake.

With the basket in hand, Harry took Ginny's hand with his free one, and they made their way to the little copse of trees which was quickly becoming 'theirs'. They sat down, Harry leaning against the tree with his legs splayed, and Ginny between them, her back against his chest. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist while she pulled the food basket towards herself, and started removing food.

They spent an enjoyable hour feeding each other tidbits from the basket, not even coming close to polishing off the masses of food that the house elves had kindly prepared for them. The time in between mouthfuls was spent getting to know each other even better than they already had over the summer.

Once finished, they returned the basket to the kitchens, then headed back onto the grounds to go and visit Hagrid at his hut. Harry had received a letter from him earlier in the week asking if they would join him that afternoon, as he knew neither of them could go into Hogsmeade.

As they were passing the Quidditch Pitch again, Harry noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. Pulling to a stop, Ginny was confused when his hand in hers stopped moving beside her. "What is it Harry?" She asked.

"I thought I saw something moving, over in the trees on the edge of the Forbidden Forest." Harry replied. Squinting, he could just about make out a black shape moving into the shadows of the forest. But Harry hadn't had his eyesight checked for several years, and his glasses weren't as strong as they should have been. Ginny was able to see the shape much clearer.

"It looks like a giant black dog!" She gasped. Then she continued cautiously. "Harry, I don't think we imagined seeing a dog that night on Magnolia Crescent - you know, when we caught the Knight Bus?"

"So, we've seen two big black dogs - what's so special about that?" Harry asked, confused.

"Harry," Ginny explained patiently. "There's something in Wizarding superstition called the Grim. It's supposed to be this large black dog that if you see, you are destined to die in the next 24 hours. It's meant to be a bad omen."

"Don't you believe it then?" Harry questioned.

"No, of course not!" She scoffed. "I mean, we've both seen it twice now, and neither of us are dead yet. Ron swears by it though - apparently our Uncle Bilius saw one the day he died."

"Well, it sounds a little paranoid to me. Whatever it is, I don't think that dog is the Grim, although I don't know of anything that lives in the Forbidden Forest and looks like a large black dog. Anyway, we should be getting down to Hagrid's now."

Puzzled by what they had seen, the two teens continued hand in hand down to the small Groundskeeper's Hut on the edge of the Forest. In a fenced off enclosure outside, they could just about see the Flobberworms they had spent the last month taking care of, ever since the incident between Buckbeak and Malfoy.

Looking after Flobberworms didn't seem like a set of lessons Hagrid would have intentionally planned, as they were not at all dangerous. However, when they had first started it had been a task of working out what they liked to eat. As far as anyone could tell, they preferred biting fingers than the lettuce and grubs Hagrid had provided. But this gave everyone a good chance to just chat, as the Flobberworms seemed to do best when left to their own devices. And it had worked. The creatures that had started off just a few inches long, were now coming onto a foot, in only a month.

Continuing past, Harry reached out with his free hand to knock on the door to the hut. They heard barking break out inside the hut, and a shout of "Down Fang! Ye' mangy dog, back!" Before the door opened, revealing Hagrid.

When he saw the identity of his visitors, he broke out into a large grin. Ginny however, saw through the facade the friendly half-giant was putting up.

"Hagrid, what's wrong?" She asked, concern evident on her face.

Immediately, Hagrid dropped his smile and ushered the pair into his hut. "Si' down, make yerselves comf'table." He said, gesturing to the sofa while moving over to the kitchen. Pulling a box down from the shelf, he continued. "I got some rock-cakes here fer yer two - they're a coupla days old, but they should be fine." He said, seating himself heavily in the armchair across from them.

Both Harry and Ginny took a rock-cake from the box in front of them, not wanting to hurt Hagrid's feelings when he was obviously already quite upset, and Harry repeated Ginny's question, "Hagrid, what's the matter? Why are you so upset?"

"It's Beaky - after yer firs' lesson, the Board o' Governors were tol' 'bout what happened o' course. But now the Ministry blokes have heard 'bout it, they wan' ter hold a trial for 'im. An' yer know ol' Lucius Malfoy is backin' them up with stacks o' gold." Tears started leaking from his eyes.

"Oh, Hagrid!" Ginny said sympathetically. Truthfully, they'd seen Buckbeak fenced in and chained by the neck in a small enclosure near the hut, but hadn't really given any thought as to what was to happen to the hippogriff.

Harry however, could feel anger starting to grow inside him. "Malfoy is always willing to throw his money around to get his way, and everyone in the Ministry just turns a blind eye to it, so long as their pocket is that little bit fuller." He said, annoyed.

"Don't worry Hagrid - we're witnesses, and the rest of the class. We all heard your warning that You should never insult a hippogriff, and saw Malfoy do just that anyway - we won't let them do anything to Buckbeak." Ginny reassured him.

"Thanks you two, bu' I don' think it'll work. The Governor's said I shoulda started with somethin' a little smaller, like Flobberworms - that's why yer doin' those now - bu' I wanted somethin' interestin' fer yer firs' lesson." He said gloomily, not noticing that both Harry and Ginny had surreptitiously chucked their rock-cakes on the floor at Fang's feet.

"Try not to worry about it too much." Harry said, trying to calm his large friend down. "If you tell us when the trial is, we'll do everything we can to help you." Ginny nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys." Hagrid hiccupped, wiping his eyes dry on a dirty handkerchief he produced from a questionably full pocket. The pair stayed a little longer, talking about other topics, before heading back up to the castle.

* * *

On their way back across the grounds, they heard a heated argument taking place where the first carriages were arriving back to the castle from Hogsmeade. Drawing closer, they saw Ron and Hermione were having one of their regular shouting matches. Thinking nothing of it, Harry and Ginny continued on, but as they got closer they could make out some of the words being exchanged.

"Urgh, Ronald, why do you have such a problem with them?" Hermione half-asked, half-shouted, pulling her hands through her hair.

"She's my sister!" Ron replied.

His interest piqued, Harry noticed that from their current position behind a large oak tree, he and Ginny could not be seen by the arguing couple just a few feet away. Drawing to a halt against the tree, he whispered to Ginny "I want to see what he says, it might help us understand what he's thinking."

Ginny considered this for a moment, and eventually nodded. "I don't really care - he's dug his own grave with his actions - but it could be helpful to know in the future." She agreed.

Meanwhile, the argument was continuing. "I don't see why that makes any difference! So she's your sister - why does that mean Harry isn't allowed to spend any time with her?" Hermione exclaimed.

"I've explained this before! Everything was fine last year, then at the end of the year she started vying for attention from Harry, and suddenly he didn't have time for me anymore. And now she's trying to turn him against me, when really she's just my baby sister!"

Ginny silently fumed at that last part, and made to withdraw her wand to give Ron a good Bat-Bogey Hex. But Harry quickly stopped her, with a hand laid on her wand arm. "I know you're mad, but let's not give away our position. I want to hear some more, and I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to take it out on him in the future."

"If I didn't agree with you, you'd be in so much trouble now, Mr Potter." She growled warningly, flicking her wand threateningly at him.

"Understood." Harry said quickly, holding his hands up in front of him, surrendering. When Ginny lowered her wand again, they turned back to listen to the continuing heated argument.

"So your reaction is just because Harry wants to spend time with someone else as well then?" Hermione asked.

"She's my sister, Hermione! Suddenly Harry is only interested in her and he has no time for me! And they're dating now - she's way too young to have a boyfriend!"

"I'm sure Harry would be perfectly happy to spend time with you still if you didn't get angry with him just for spending some of his time with Ginny. You can't monopolise his time anymore Ronald - we're growing up and its Harry's choice who he spends all his time with - if you keep acting like this then of course he's not going to choose to spend it with you."

"I see how it is then - you're taking his side!" Ron accused her.

"In a way, yes." She admitted. "But it's not done a lot of good. I've chosen to continue spending time with you, no matter how much I agree with them, so now they're ignoring me as well!"

"Fine, if you're on their side then run off back to them and explain - but don't bother trying to argue your point with me again - I know I'm the only one seeing the light." Ron shouted angrily, before storming into the castle. After a few seconds, with tears in her eyes, Hermione span around and ran inside as well.

"Well that was enlightening." Harry commented idly. Ginny however was letting her anger show.

"How dare he accuse me of stealing you, as if you had no choice in the matter. Some friend he is, not thinking you can make decisions for yourself!" She exclaimed. "Oh, he is so in for a hexing next time I see him!"

"I don't think I'll ever understand what goes through Ron's head. But look at it this way - I think Hermione's coming round, so we might have another friend on our side before long." Harry said, taking Ginny's hand and leading her into theGreat Hall for dinner, ignoring Ron glaring at them from the other end of the Gryffindor table.

* * *

After filling himself to the brim at dinner, Ron stormed up to his bed in the dormitory. Something had been up with Hermione all term. Sure, she'd been on his back about his problem with Harry dating Ginny since they first found out, that day after Care of Magical Creatures, but their arguments had been, well, more intense so far that year than previously. She seemed even more short tempered than before.

Ron couldn't see why she didn't understand what he was telling her. Couldn't she see it was wrong for guys to date their best friend's little sister? And besides, Ginny was way to young to be thinking about boys like that anyway. She was just a baby still, really.

But Hermione didn't seem to understand. She thought that it was great that they had gotten together, and seemed to love the sickeningly cute gestures they gave each other, which invariably made Ron gag.

He knew it would be a bit lonely without even Hermione to talk to, now he had told her to run off back to his friend and sister, but that didn't matter. He could get to know Dean and Seamus better. They wouldn't question his opinions about Harry ad Ginny, or argue with him about them all the time. Yes, his life would be much more relaxed hanging out with his fellow dorm mates.

* * *

Despite hearing the argument between Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny didn't make any move to speak to the older girl, wanting her to come to them first, although they had seen she'd been spending a lot more time alone in the library. Still, as the week rolled on, no further progress had been made towards repairing Harry's friendship with the bushy-haired girl.

Before long, the day of the Quidditch match had arrived. As it was short notice, only the starting team would be playing, rather than swapping any player out for one of the reserves. However, Wood still instructed the entire reserve team to get into their uniform before the game, just in case anybody needed swapping out due to injuries. Wood had just finished his encouragement, and they were waiting in the tunnel for Lee Jordan, the commentator, to announce their team. The reserves would exit behind them and sit on a bench at the side of the pitch, conjured up with a roof for if it rained.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first Quidditch match of the year, Slytherin vs Gryffindor!" They heard Lee's voice shout from outside. "First, your Slytherin team. The Chasers; Cassius Warrington, Graham Montague, and Captain Marcus Flint. The Beaters; Peregrine Derrick and Lucian Bole. Playing Keeper is Miles Bletchley, and your Seeker is Draco Malfoy. Wow - Flint seems to be going for size rather than skill this year!"

"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall admonished from beside him.

"Sorry Professor!" Lee said, mot sounding sorry at all. "And now for your Gryffindor Team!" He shouted, garnering applause from three quarters of the crowd, as nobody was supporting the Slytherins except their own house. "The Chasers; Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell!" As he said each name, the respective player mounted their broom and flew out onto the pitch. "The Beaters; Fred and George Weasley! Playing Keeper is Captain Oliver Wood, and your Seeker is Harry Potter!"

"To give some background to this match," Lee explained while Madam Hooch prepared and called the captains down to shake hands. "Slytherin were supposed to be playing Hufflepuff today with a substitute Seeker. However, due to the Hufflepuff Team being almost entirely new this year and needing time to play, a last minute replacement came in the form of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match! Strangely, Malfoy's arm seems to be much better today than was initially anticipated - I wonder why?" Lee asked the rhetorical question sarcastically.

" _Jordan,_ the game please." Professor McGonagall asked warningly.

"Of course Professor." Lee acquiesced. "The Captains are shaking hands, and, _OW_ , that looked like it hurt, it seemed as if Slytherin Captain Flint was trying to break Gryffindor Captain Wood's hand. It seems unlikely that we'll be seeing a clean game of sportsman-like behaviour from the Slytherins today then!" The Slytherins jeered, while the rest of the crowd booed.

"JORDAN!" Professor McGonagall shouted.

"Sorry Professor! Just stating the facts! The Snitch has been released, and there goes the Quaffle, so play has now begun."

Harry hovered above the pitch, his eyes scanning for any sign of the Snitch. He saw Angelina grab the Quaffle and zoom to the opposing end, passing it to Alicia at the last moment, who put it neatly through the right hoop, while Bletchley flew to block the left, expecting Angelina to throw it.

"And Alicia Spinnet scores as Keeper Bletchley flies in the wrong direction!" Lee shouted. "Ten points for Gryffindor." As rude as the statement was, Lee had hit the nail on the head. Flint had filled his team with the largest players he could find, and not just in height. While a large build can be useful in Quidditch, it was more of a hinderance here as it took Miles so long to turn and fly back towards the Quaffle, that play had already resumed, and the Chasers were already flying around in the centre of the pitch.

With a little more scanning of the pitch, Harry flew quickly to a different location, where he could see problematic areas at different angles. He knew in particular that the Golden Snitch was very difficult to see against the red and gold backdrop of the Gryffindor stand. Unfortunately, this put him very close to Malfoy, who immediately took the opportunity to try and show him up.

"Hey, Potter." He snarled. "There's no way you're going to beat me today."

"Just like every match then, Malfoy?" Harry commented idly. Malfoy fumed.

"Just you wait, Potter." He spat. "You'll get yours soon enough!"

"Oh, will I?" Harry replied. "Anyway, how's your arm, Malfoy. Imagine my concern to hear you may not be able to play today. And then suddenly, the moment the match changed teams, you were all healthy again."

"It recovered quicker than Madam Pomfrey would have hoped. Its lucky really - an attack from that beast could have rendered it useless forever."

"Oh come off it Malfoy. You know that's not right. It would have just killed you instead. Besides, didn't you listen to Hagrid - he told you not to insult them." Harry knew that Malfoy had heard Hagrid's warning, and that he deliberately insulted Buckbeak to make Hagrid look bad, but he was playing a part, and enjoying it immensely now that he understood Malfoy's games.

"That bumbling oaf? He didn't know what he was doing. Really, a dangerous creature that could kill someone, in our first lesson? That's the height of stupidity."

Malfoy's response made Harry angry, but before he could respond, he felt the anger diminish - not completely, but enough to keep him under control. "Anyway, goodbye Malfoy, I've got a Snitch to find!" He said, trying to inject some false cheer into his voice, before flying off.

* * *

Down on the reserve bench, Ginny suddenly felt an inexplicable amount of anger. Not knowing where it was coming from, the emotion quickly gave way to confusion, but for a moment her eyes had flashed, and her teammates on the reserve team had looked at her, concerned. She waved them off.

"It's nothing, I just felt really angry for a moment for some reason." She told them, turning her attention back to the sky, watching the entire game, but focusing mainly on Harry.

* * *

The game had continued and the score was 70-10 in favour of Gryffindor before anything else of interest happened. Scanning the pitch, Harry suddenly spotted a Bludger heading straight for him, whacked by a grinning Bole, who could be seen hovering behind it. Harry made to fly out the way of it's path, but Fred popped up from below and swung his bat at the ball, firing it back towards Bole, who was hit in the stomach as he didn't comprehend that it was coming back at him until too late. Winded, he flew down to near the bottom of the playing area to catch his breath.

"Hiya Harry!" Fred said from his position beside him.

George flew in from the other side swerving at the last second to come in line. "Can't have you getting hurt now, can we?"

"Ginny would kill us!" They shared a laugh at Harry's bemused expression.

"Thanks guys!" He said as they flew off to rejoin the fray below.

The score was now 90-30 in their favour. Derrick and Bole, who had returned to play, were concentrating all of their attacks on Wood, which was making it difficult for him to save anything when he was concentrating on avoiding falling off of his broom. However, the Gryffindor Chasers were performing admirably, never losing possession once they got hold of the ball.

They were about an hour in when Harry spotted the Snitch, hovering in mid-air. He quickly glanced at Malfoy. While closer, the Slytherin Seeker was currently looking in the opposite direction. Harry slowly drifted towards the Snitch, not wanting to give away it's position before absolutely necessary.

When he could almost reach it, the Snitch suddenly shot upwards, and Harry leant on his broom handle, flying up after it. He was now closer than Malfoy, so wasn't concerned when Lee announced "It looks like Potter has seen the Snitch!" He just about heard Malfoy swear as he spun on the spot, and, noticing Harry, angled his broom to meet up with him at the Snitch.

* * *

On the ground, Ginny watched, along with the rest of the school, as Harry and Malfoy both chased the Snitch into the cloud layer covering the sky as far as they could see.

Suddenly, she shivered slightly, and was confused. While slightly chilly, she was warm in the several layers of Quidditch uniform she wore.

* * *

Higher and higher the Snitch flew, with Harry pushing his Nimbus 2000 to its limits trying to catch up. Malfoy was ever so slightly gaining on him from behind, helped only by the slightly higher top speed of the Nimbus 2001.

He started feeling colder as he gained slightly on the Snitch. The winged ball was charmed to not leave the pitch or go too high, although Harry felt that point had already been and gone. Nonetheless, it was starting to slow down now, evidently nearing its boundary.

Then Harry realised why he could feel a rising sense of dread. The cold air, now to the point where he was openly shivering and could see his breath, reminded him horribly of their encounter on the Hogwarts Express. As he came to this realisation, he distantly heard a woman say " _No! Not Harry! Please!"_ With dread, he realised what was happening - the dementors had come to the game.

He turned around, and shouted at his opponent. "Turn around Malfoy! Go back down!"

" _Please be alive, Ginny, please don't be dead!"_

Malfoy looked at him like he was crazy, then replied "Not a chance Potter - I'm not just going to hand you this victory. If you're too scared to fly any higher then leave it to the better Seeker to win the game." Even as he said this, he started shivering uncontrollably.

" _Step aside, foolish girl!"_

" _No! Not Harry! Please no, take me, kill me instead!"_

At that moment, several cloaked dementors flew out of the clouds surrounding the pair. Malfoy, with his teeth chattering, took one look at the closest before turning and fleeing back down.

" _Tom - you've got to help me. There's a basilisk, and Ginny won't wake up..."_

Harry urged his broom towards the ground, but was quickly overrun by his emotions _._ The broom slipped from his grasp, and he fell unconscious on the way to the ground.

* * *

The Snitch, in a desperate bid to escape the foul, soul-sucking creatures above, starting flying back down to the pitch, in a weaving motion. Part way there, it flew underneath the hand of unconscious Harry, whose fingers closed onto it from the impact it made against his palm.

* * *

Back on the ground, everyone had started shivering uncontrollably. More of the spectators were coming to the same conclusion - the dementors had left their posts at the boundary of the grounds. Madam Hooch had called all the players still at a reasonable height down to the ground, not wanting anyone to fall off their brooms, but no-one knew where either Seeker was, since they flew through the cloud cover several minutes ago.

" _Please be alive, Ginny, please don't be dead!"_ Ginny heard Harry's voice pleading. Startled, she looked around her, shivering all the while, but couldn't see him anywhere.

Suddenly, the crowd gasped as they saw a broom descending rapidly from the cloud layer. As it drew closer to the ground, they could see the rider wore green and silver robes - Slytherin colours.

"Dementors! There's dementors up there!" Malfoy shouted, landing on the ground, where he promptly fainted from shock. Madam Hooch and Professor Snape converged on him, while Madam Pomfrey paused to pick up her bag of medical supplies before joining them.

"Where's Harry?" Ginny heard whispered behind her multiple times from the Gryffindor stands. But she ignored them, much too preoccupied with the new voices she was hearing - unknown ones now.

" _Step aside, foolish girl!"_

" _No! Not Harry! Please no, take me, kill me instead!"_

Her head battered by many emotions at once, she barely noticed the Harry that only she could hear, say " _Tom - you've got to help me. There's a basilisk, and Ginny won't wake up..."_ before she abruptly tipped forward off the bench as she fell unconscious, the rest of the Gryffindor Reserves surrounding her, and shouting for Madam Pomfrey.

Having finished checking over Malfoy, the Matron hurried over to find an unconscious Ginny surrounded by her teammates. Puzzled as to what could have caused it, she started by casting a simple " _Rennervate_ ". The young girl coughed once, but otherwise remained motionless. Undeterred, Madam Pomfrey cast the spell again, while ushering the other students away to give her some space.

This time, Ginny sat up, coughed again, then looked up at the matron. "What happe-" she started to ask, before she saw a fast-moving flash of red and gold high in the air behind the matron. "HARRY!" She screamed, before passing out again.

Concerned, Madam Pomfrey wondered what had frightened the girl so much to cause her to faint again. She turned to the pitch behind her, only to see a bundle of red and gold robes plummeting to the ground with no broom.

Luckily, the Headmaster had already heard Ginny's shout - as had the rest of the students and Professors. Seeing what could only be Harry falling uncontrollably, he stood and chanted, " _ARRESTO MOMENTUM_ ", pointing his wand at the falling teenager.

The spell did not stop Harry from falling completely, but did slow him down sufficiently for Professor McGonagall to conjure a large crash mat for him to land on, breaking his fall. Once he had landed, she shrunk the mat until he was near the ground, then vanished it, allowing Madam Pomfrey to get near him and check him over. He was still injured from the fall, but not nearly as badly as if he had just hit the ground at his original speed.


	18. Discoveries in the Infirmary

**A/N:** Hello again - here's another chapter. Hopefully now I will have a bit more time to write, I've started Uni and am less likely to be distracted playing computer games with my friends throughout the year, leaving me more time to continue with this story. Sorry there's not much of Harry and Ginny in this chapter - what was originally meant to be a short scene at the start took on a mind of its own. The rest of what I was going to add to this chapter has now been displaced to the next one, which hopefully I'll start this evening. I hope you enjoy it! ( **Disclaimer** in Chapter 1)

 **Chapter 18 – Discoveries in the Infirmary**

" _Rennervate!_ " Ginny heard, as against her will she was pulled into an awake state. Groggily, she opened her eyes to see Madam Pomfrey leaning over her slightly, a small frown on her face. Just like the two times previously, each an hour apart, Ginny managed to force out a "What hap…" before falling into unconsciousness again.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey straightened up, her frown deepening. She had no clue what was preventing Ginny from staying awake. There was nothing wrong with her physically speaking, and since the healer had spelled some chocolate directly into her stomach upon arriving in the Hospital Wing from the Quidditch Pitch, it couldn't be put down to after effects of the Dementors, either. Not that they had got anywhere near the young girl anyway.

Sighing, she made another note on the page stuck to Ginny's bed, before heading across to another patient, vowing to return in another hour to try again.

Stepping around the curtains surrounding Ginny's bed, Madam Pomfrey moved to check on Draco. He had woken up naturally, soon after returning from the pitch, and now having eaten the full bar of Honeydukes' Best Chocolate that she had forced into his hands upon waking.

"I see you've finished that chocolate." She said briskly as she arrived at the edge of his bed. "There's no need for you to stay here any longer, so off with you."

Silently, Draco stood from the bed, and made his way out the room. Whilst the door was open Madam Pomfrey caught a glimpse of the crowd waiting outside the Hospital Wing. Upon arriving with her three patients, she had sealed the room to allow her to work in peace. That had been several hours ago now. Most had left for lunch, and then dinner as well, before returning. Only a few of those waiting had remained there the entire time, eating food brought to them by those who had made the trek to the Great Hall.

Before long, the doors were closed again, and Madam Pomfrey turned to the final bed, also surrounded with curtains. Stepping past them, she looked down at Harry. The cuts and bruises from his rough landing were healing steadily, now that she had spread some healing paste onto him, although the bone in his arm would require more Skele-Gro. She felt sorry for the boy – Skele-Gro was bad enough just the once. He would be going through it for the second time in as many years, and strangely it was always worse when you knew what to expect.

Seeing that it would do more harm than good to try and wake the boy now, she returned to her office, leaving a monitoring charm over Ginny's bed to alert her if the girl awoke naturally.

* * *

Outside the Hospital Wing, the crowd waiting gained two more. Where before there had been the entire Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Ron, Hermione, Demelza, Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore and Hagrid, and Mr and Mrs Weasley, who had been floo-called upon their daughter falling unconscious for no apparent reason, Neville and Seamus now arrived, with a grim look on their faces.

Hearing their approaching footsteps, the team looked up from their positions on the floor, leaning against the wall on the other side of the corridor to the door. The professors had conjured themselves chairs to use. Fred was the one to voice the question, one word though it was. "Well?" He asked sadly, already knowing the answer from the looks on their faces.

Neville opened the small bag he was carrying to allow the others to see inside. "Completely shattered. We found it at the base of the Whomping Willow."

"That tree didn't much like being hit by a broom, let alone us comin' in to try ta get it." Seamus continued.

The team looked forlornly at the splinters of broom handle. They knew that this turn of events would hurt Harry significantly. It was unlikely he'd be able to replace it before the next match, and they all knew the school brooms would be too much of a hinderance for him to use.

Neville and Seamus slid down against the wall, joining the others in waiting for Madam Pomfrey to allow them into the Hospital Wing.

* * *

A few minutes later, everyone looked up again as more footsteps were heard approaching. Before long, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, appeared around the corner, flanked by two Ministry Guards – those who had received only parts of the auror training to be better suited as bodyguards than fully-fledged aurors.

As the Minister drew close, Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet. "Minister." He greeted warmly. "I trust you got my message?" The venerable professor inquired, as if talking about the weather.

"Yes Dumbledore, I did. Now what did you mean by saying you wished to remove the Dementors. You know full well they are here for your, and your students, safety."

"If I may, Minister, perhaps we should continue this conversation in my office. I don't think that outside a hospital is necessarily the place…"

"No, quite right." Fudge replied. He glanced at the teenagers leaning against the wall, listening intently. "Lead the way." He gestured to Dumbledore. His intentions were not nearly as honourable as wanting to leave the corridor outside the Hospital Wing, as much as to get out of earshot of any children who may have instant access to the infamous Hogwarts Rumour Mill.

* * *

Another hour passed before the matron returned to Ginny's side, once again performing "Rennervate" with the same results. If this continued, she'd have to get a specialist healer in from St. Mungo's, although she didn't know what specialist to call for, as there appeared to be nothing the matter with the girl.

She turned to the chart to make another note, the same as the previous three. As she went to place it back on the hook, she stopped, and glanced back up the parchment. Slowly she began to read again. "Mentally fine, physically fine, medically fine..." She read to herself aloud.

"Wait a minute!" She muttered to herself, turning back to Ginny. " _Proiectura Meam._ " She cast, waving her wand above the girl's chest. Slowly, a ball of softly pulsating light rose from her body, settling a few feet in the air above her. The healer jerked back in surprise. Cancelling the spell, she called for a house-elf. "Pitts!"

Moments later, a loud crack sounded in the Hospital Wing as an old house-elf dressed in a tea-towel appeared from the kitchens. "Hows may Pitts be of helps today?" He asked.

Quickly scribbling out some details onto a parchment form, Madam Pomfrey cast the first part of a verification charm on the parchment. This charm was known only by healers, so when the second part was cast it could be known that the form was filled out by someone authorised to access the documents requested.

"Can you take this to the Department of Magical Records please Pitts. I need the record returned quickly, and I'd ask you not to tell anyone of this." She asked kindly, trying to force a smile through her shock at what she had just seen.

"Pitts will be back quickly" The house-elf replied, taking the parchment and disappearing with a pop. Madam Pomfrey stood and made her way back to Ginny's bed, picking up the chart again. "Three colours?" She muttered to herself rhetorically, before making another note – **Soul: Inconclusive**.

A few minutes later the old house-elf reappeared, now clutching three pieces of parchment in his long fingers. "Here's you go." He said, handing Madam Pomfrey the parchments back. "Don't be worryings. Pitts won't tell anyone." He said, reassuringly, before disappearing back to the kitchens.

Madam Pomfrey returned the copy of her request form that she had sent to her office, before looking at the first record she had just had retrieved from the Ministry. It was a generic record kept for every new-born magical child, detailing some basic information and the results of some charms cast on babies at birth.

 **Ginevra Molly Weasley  
** **Mother:** Molly Weasley (neé Prewitt)  
 **Father:** Arthur Weasley  
 **Date of Birth:** 11th August 1981  
 **Blood Status:** Pure-Blood  
 **Hair Colour:** Red  
 **Eye Colour:** Brown  
 **Complexion:** Fair  
 **Soul Colour:** Red

She stopped reading at this point, having reached the line required. "I wonder…" Madam Pomfrey muttered. She had a hunch as to what was happening and wasn't sure what to do if it proved correct. She turned to the other record.

 **Harry James Potter  
** **Mother:** Lily Potter (neé Evans)  
 **Father:** James Potter  
 **Date of Birth:** 31st July 1980  
 **Blood Status:** Half-Blood  
 **Hair Colour:** Black  
 **Eye Colour:** Green  
 **Complexion:** Pale  
 **Soul Colour:** Green

"Hmm." She murmured, looking back at Ginny lying on the bed. She opened the curtains around both Ginny and Harry, then cast " _Proiectura Meam_ " over both of them. Out of Ginny's body once again rose a golden sphere, half of which contained streaks of green, and half streaks of red. It was one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing things she had ever seen, and in all her time using this particular spell, nothing like it had appeared before.

She then turned her attention to Harry, above whom an identical sphere hovered. "That settles it." She said to herself, hiding the spheres again. Most healers didn't believe in soul magic, believing that anything to do with the soul was set and could not change, therefore could not affect the healing process. It was only due to tradition that the spell was still cast on magical children at birth. Poppy Pomfrey however, believed differently, and this case proved it. Never before had she seen a soul with two colours, let alone three, and she vowed to find out why. Especially since both her current charges appeared to have the same soul colour, and neither was the same as it had been at birth.

* * *

Up in a tower on the other side of the castle, the Minister for Magic sat listening to Dumbledore explain his opinions about the Dementors, whilst the two Ministry Guards stood flanking the door. Fawkes was sat preening himself on his perch, although periodically he looked up and glanced around the room, as if waiting for something.

"Now then Dumbledore. Exactly why do you wish to remove the only protection around Hogwarts when Sirius Black could make an attempt on Harry's life at any moment?" Fudge asked, ignoring the phoenix's peculiar movements.

"Minister, surely you understand the need for our students' safety. After all, this is the reason the Dementors are here surrounding the castle at all."

"Yes Dumbledore, now stop beating around the bush. To me, these two statements seem awfully conflicting." Fudge said, already exasperated with the headmaster.

"Yes, and a mighty fine job of it they've done. Why, just last week I heard a report that Sirius Black had been spotted down in Devon of all places. And if he's only just escaped Azkaban, there's no doubt he'll be in no fit shape to trek all the way up into Scotland. I ask you withdraw the Dementors. Recent events have made it clear that they are not safe to keep around Hogwarts, with so many young souls nearby."

"What events might these be? And possible sightings mean nothing. We've had the best aurors in the Ministry tracking down Black for the last few months, and we have reason to believe that he is headed this way. After all, he won't be able to ignore the temptation of Harry Potter forever."

"Very well Cornelius," Dumbledore conceded, "I will explain today's events. At the Gryffindor – Slytherin Quidditch match this morning, Harry followed the Snitch awfully high into the sky, above the cloud level. The Dementors clearly couldn't cope with such a feast nearby – there were of course many positive feelings at the pitch – and ambushed both Harry and Draco in their attempt for the Snitch. Draco successfully made his way back to the ground, where he landed safely before fainting from the after effects of the Dementors. He was released from the hospital wing just before you arrived. Harry however, was not so lucky. He has proved particularly sensitive to Dementors, even during their check of the Hogwarts Express in September. He fell unconscious while still 500 feet in the air, on his broom. I managed to slow his fall, and Professor McGonagall conjured a crash mat underneath him, but that only did so much in the way of injuries. He is still unconscious in the hospital wing."

Fudge had paled as the story unravelled – the Boy-Who-Lived at Hogwarts by guards placed there for his own safety would not reflect well on the Ministry of Magic. However, it seemed there was little he could do to cover it up.

Suddenly, Fawkes trilled lightly, and taking to the air, he disappeared in a flash of flame. Both Fudge and Dumbledore looked over as the bird departed. Dumbledore shrugged at the Minister. Sometimes, he didn't have a clue what his familiar did, and it certainly wasn't the first time Fawkes had disappeared without warning. Fudge turned back to the Headmaster and continued with his original train of thought.

"I can certainly see your point Dumbledore. Yet we simply cannot afford to remove your protection. If Black was to gain entry to the castle, then the results could be disastrous. I suggest a trial period. The Ministry will withdraw half of the Dementors currently surrounding the castle and grounds, but if anything else happens I must be immediately notified. I am not satisfied that this information reached me by way of gossip several hours after the event in question. Especially given who it concerns. And if anything else does happen, we may be forced to return the Dementors, and more."

"I guess this is as much as you will allow Cornelius. I will accept it for now. However, be warned – if any of those creatures ever enter the grounds and attempt to attack anyone – either student or staff – then I will be forced to banish them from the area completely. We cannot afford the parents knowing that the creatures protecting their children are more interested in feasting on the inhabitants of the castle."

"I agree, Dumbledore. That would do no good at all for the reputation of the Ministry." Once again, Fudge was only thinking about his own career, and not any other possible ramifications. "I must return to the Ministry now – but remember to inform me of anything happening in the future. Guards!" He motioned to the two men standing by the door, as he strode purposefully from the office and down the spiral staircase.

* * *

Back in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey had come to the conclusion that she needed outside help. She didn't remember much soul magic, as it generally wasn't important when healing the typical injuries found in a magical school. However, clearly there was something else at play here.

She opened the door into the corridor slightly, and stuck her head out, asking, "Professor Dumbledore, could I speak to you for a mom…" She trailed off, realising that the Headmaster no longer sat waiting outside the room, but Professor McGonagall responded.

"Professor Dumbledore has just returned to his office to discuss today's events with Minister Fudge. Perhaps I can be of some assistance?" She inquired.

Madam Pomfrey thought for a moment. Sure, the Gryffindor Head of House hadn't been her first choice, but in the long run, she seemed to be the better option anyway. After all, involving the Headmaster could lead to all sorts of issues – Madam Pomfrey knew all about his meddling tendencies in relation to students' lives, and didn't agree with it one bit.

"Yes, perhaps that would be for the best anyway." She replied. "Would you come through to my office?" Professor McGonagall stood and banished the chair, as Ron asked rather rudely "Are they awake yet?"

"Mr Weasley – manners!" Professor McGonagall admonished. "If you can't remain calm, I suggest you return to your common room."

"I'm just concerned, Professor. There was no reason for Ginny to be unconscious in the first place, so why should she have to stay longer than Malfoy?"

Professor McGonagall permitted herself a small frown. Admittedly she had noticed this year that Harry and Ron were spending much less time together – none at all, in fact – but she hadn't expected Ron to totally ignore his former best friend in favour of his younger sister, who previously he hadn't had the time of day for. "I'm sure there is a good reason, and if it concerns you then you will be informed in due course. Now I will ask again, if you cannot remain calm and polite then please return to Gryffindor Tower." She abruptly turned on her heel and followed Madam Pomfrey through the Hospital Wing into her office, locking both doors behind them.

* * *

"What is the problem, Poppy?" Minerva McGonagall asked as soon as they had sat down in the matron's office. "I find myself in agreement with Mr Weasley, I can see no reason for Miss Weasley to not have already woken up."

"That's complicated, Minerva. I've tried to _Rennervate_ her every hour since I brought them up here. Each time she wakes up, gets halfway through asking what had happened to her, then falls straight back into unconsciousness again. I've not even tried to wake Mr Potter up yet – I want to give his injuries a bit more of a chance to heal first."

Professor McGonagall looked confused. "I've never heard of _Rennervate_ producing such confusing results before. Normally, the patient awakes, or doesn't. The fact that both outcomes appear to be occurring confuses me. Have you formed any theories?" She asked.

"This is where you're going to start thinking I'm mad," Madam Pomfrey said resignedly, "but yes, I have."

"What is it then?" Prompted McGonagall.

"After I last tried to _Rennervate_ Miss Weasley, I looked over her parchment again for this incident. Physically, mentally, medically, she's fine. Most healers would stop at that, and await her waking naturally. But I've always been interested in soul magic. Just for the sake of it, I cast the soul-revealing spell on her. You know, the one normally used on new-born babies to determine soul colour?" At Professor McGonagall's nod, she continued.

"Well, it had an unexpected result as well. I requested Miss Weasley's and Mr Potter's birth records be retrieved from the Ministry, just to check. Following this, I checked Mr Potter's soul as well. The same is true for him."

"What are you talking about Poppy?" Minerva asked, exasperated.

"See for yourself." The matron said, handing her the parchments she had requested from the Ministry, and leading her back out into the main hospital wing. Minerva read the colours of both patients' souls, then looked up at Poppy expectantly. "So? I see nothing unusual here." She inquired.

Madam Pomfrey just cast " _Proiectura Meam_ " over both the students again, allowing Minerva to see with her own eyes. The Professor jerked back in shock. "But – how? Souls don't just change colour – and I've never seen one with more than one colour before!" She exclaimed.

"I know." Madam Pomfrey agreed. "I believe this has something to do with why Miss Weasley fell unconscious, and why she is being prevented from waking up. But I don't know how, or why."

Professor McGonagall stepped over towards Harry's bed, then said, "They're not completely identical, look." She pointed at Harry's sphere. Previously, Poppy had not noticed that as well as the gold, green and red, there were also small specks of black dotted throughout the green side of the sphere.

"I don't know." She replied, honestly. "I've never seen anything like this before. I'm considering having to bring someone in from St. Mungo's, but I don't know who can be trusted with this knowledge. Especially as we don't even know what it is."

Suddenly, a bundle of flames appeared in the middle of the room. Within a few seconds, they had died down to leave Fawkes, hovering in the centre of the hospital wing. He trilled happily as he circled the room, before settling himself on the edge of Harry's bed. Bending over, a few tears fell from the phoenix's eyes.

Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall could only watch in wonder as Harry's wounds sealed completely. While certainly not life threatening, without this intervention it could have taken another several hours before Harry had woken up. Even so, it was rare for a phoenix to cry, even on fatal injuries.

Fawkes took to the sky again, and circled the room once more, before dropping down to Ginny's bed and grabbing the headboard in his talons. Before either witch could react, he flew it over to a position alongside Harry's bed, where one side was touching, before settling on a chair beside them. No sooner had he done this, than a flash of magic sealed the small gap between the beds, forming them into one.

The witches looked on in shock as Harry and Ginny rolled towards the centre of the bed, grasping each other in their arms. Madam Pomfrey took a step towards them, but stopped as a flare of gold shot out of their bodies to settle around them and Fawkes, preventing anyone from approaching. Fawkes turned, and appeared to smirk at them, before flying through into the office, clearly wanting the two witches to follow.

* * *

Dumbledore made his way back down to the corridor outside the hospital wing, intending to speak to Minerva about the decrease in Dementors guarding Hogwarts. As he arrived though, it became clear that what he had planned would not come to pass, as Minerva was nowhere to be seen.

"Excuse me children, would you perhaps tell me where I might find Professor McGonagall?" He asked kindly.

Hermione answered. "Madam Pomfrey came out about 15 minutes ago sir, to ask to speak with you. When you weren't here she decided to speak to Professor McGonagall instead."

"Perhaps I should head in to see if I can be of any assistance." He said, moving towards the door. Trying the handle, he found it locked. While he could easily use _Alohomora_ to unlock it, clearly the two witches inside did not wish to be interrupted. He would respect their privacy a little longer. He conjured another chair and sat back down to wait. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on sending a message to his familiar, asking him to inform Madam Pomfrey that he had returned should she want to speak with him. He wasn't hopeful however, as he had no clue as to where Fawkes had disappeared to just a few minutes previously.

* * *

Inside Madam Pomfrey's office, she and Professor McGonagall settled once again into their seats, and watched Fawkes alight onto the desk. The phoenix preened his feathers for a few moments. Then he looked up at the two witches, and almost smirked at the shocked looks that remained on their faces.

Fawkes flew into the air again, and picked up in his talons a sort of typewriter from one of the shelves behind Madam Pomfrey. Normally it could be used by someone who had lost the ability to speak, either permanently, or more often in Hogwarts, temporarily, to communicate with the healer. Lowering it gently to the desk, Fawkes sat himself in front of it, where he could easily reach the keys. The Professor and Matron watched as the phoenix started to type out letters onto the magical parchment, which cleared itself a few seconds after the line was ended to allow another to be written.

 _~This will allow me to communicate with you, as alas, although the Phoenix can understand humans, humans can only communicate with their bound familiar.~_ He looked towards Madam Pomfrey, before typing _~Albus has arrived at the infirmary door. He wishes to know whether you still require his assistance in any way?~_

Madam Pomfrey looked over at Minerva, then back at the Fawkes. "I think it would be best if he remained outside for now. I believe… we should consider the current circumstances ourselves before we consider consulting him."

Fawkes almost laughed. _~It is OK, Poppy! Even I understand, in fact I most of all, that Albus does not necessarily have the best interests of his students at heart. As much as he does what he believes is right, it generally does more harm than good. I will inform him that you have it under control, and will speak with him later.~_

"Thank you, Fawkes." Poppy replied in relief, only feeling slightly awkward at addressing a phoenix, even if it could understand her. "I'm sure he must be told eventually, but I can't help the feeling that it would be awful if he were to find out now."

Now Fawkes looked over to Minerva, who had seemingly recovered from her earlier shock, and the subsequent ones. _~You seem to have some questions for me?~_ He typed.

"Yes, Fawkes, I do. Do you know anything about what has happened to Mr Potter and Miss Weasley's souls? I have never seen more than one colour in a soul before, nor have I seen a soul change colour."

 _~The answers you seek about the Chosen Pair are easily come across, even though normally the records go unchecked for long periods. I would suggest considering their colours, and their actions since the events in the Chamber last year.~_

"Do you have to be so cryptic? We get enough of this from Albus!" She responded.

 _~You will feel much better for discovering the reasons yourself, than if I were to just give them to you.~_ Fawkes 'said'. Although the typing was somewhat slower than normal speaking, it wasn't so much that it broke up the flow of the conversation. Mierva looked towards Poppy.

"What do you think?" She asked with a sigh. "I can't even think straight at the moment."

"Well, Fawkes said to consider the colours. Red, green, gold, and for Harry, black. What's so special about those?"

"I guess, could it be the similarity between their souls?" Minerva hazarded. Ignoring the fact that I have never heard of a soul changing colour before, the fact that they have changed to such similar colours is… unlikely, to say the least. I would have thought it a coincidence."

"They both have the red and green aspects to their colours – those being their original colours, with red for Ginny and green for Harry. Gold, I cannot think of any implication, other than it is said to be the most magical colour of all. And black – the only connotation that comes to mind is dark magic, or 'black' magic. Otherwise, I would suggest it merely to be a reference to Harry's hair."

"You strike an interesting point there, Poppy. The gold – now the predominant colour, is, I believe the main part linking them. I wonder… yes… I seem to remember, at the beginning of the year, when I asked Harry to come to my office before the Welcome Feast…"

* * *

 _"Miss Weasley, I don't remember inviting you to this meeting."_

 _"That's OK Professor, I asked her to join me." Harry spoke up._

 _"Oh, what made you think you could do such a thing Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly._

 _"There's a very good reason Professor, and Professor Dumbledore knows of it, but we'll tell you another time. It's a long story."_

 _"Fair enough, but it better be a good explanation, although as I'm only talking about you for now its your own lookout. Anyway Mr Potter, Professor Lupin owled ahead…"_

* * *

Minerva shook herself from the memory, and explained to Madam Pomfrey, who was looking at her strangely.

"Where was I… oh yes, I asked Harry to meet me in my office before the Welcome Feast, but when I got there, it was to find that he had brought Miss Weasley with him. When I challenged him about it, he just told me that it was a long story, that they would explain another time, and that Albus knew about it. I let it go at the time, as it was his choice whether she was present while I talked to him. That was just before you came in with the chocolate, and he turned you down, if you remember Poppy?"

"Yes, I do now. Do you think that is related?"

"Yes, I had forgotten about it until now, as I had intended to ask them again the next day, but many other things kept me busy. However, if Albus knows, then maybe it would be best to get him in here and ask him."

Fawkes trilled suddenly, drawing attention back to himself, and turned to the typewriter. _~While Albus knows of the events surrounding the Chosen Pair, he does not have their best interests in mind. He would not understand it as you would. While I try to lead him on the right path, there is a limit to how much we Phoenix can influence our human. This would go beyond it. It would be best to leave him out, at least for now.~_ He typed quickly.

"So what do we know?" Madam Pomfrey asked rhetorically, exasperated. "Something is connecting their souls, and it is related to Ginny joining Harry in your office at the beginning of term. What could cause that to be necessary? And how do the black specks in Harry's soul relate to this?"

 _~Worry not of the black specks now.~_ Fawkes 'said'. _~While undoubtedly they will cause issues in the future, currently there is nothing to be done about them. You are much better served concentrating on reaching the first part of your conclusion.~_

"I can't think of anything that could cause this." Minerva said. "The only other thing I noticed was while in my office at the start of term, they never once let go of each other's hand."

"This might be of importance…" Madam Pomfrey sat up straighter. "I have an idea. If you would, please keep an eye on my patients for a few minutes, would you? I don't expect them to wake up, but I must go and check something at the Ministry. I will be back as quickly as possible." Without waiting for an answer, she stepped over to the fireplace, and taking a pinch of floo powder from a small pot on top, dropped it as she shouted "Ministry of Magic!"

Minerva just looked in shock at the dying flames in the fireplace, then back over at Fawkes. He trilled happily. _~I do believe she has come to find the correct answer.~_ He typed. _~Come. Let us watch over the Chosen Pair while we await her return.~_

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey quickly made her way from the fireplaces along a corridor leading to the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Stopping quickly, she presented her wand to the security guard to be checked, as was standard, then continued into one of the many lifts lining a circular chamber just the other side of the main room.

A multitude of other witches and wizards entered and exited the lift as it made its journey, but eventually the disembodied voice of the announcer said "Level 2. Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including Auror Headquarters, Wizengamot Administration Services, and Administrative Registration Department, and Department of Magical Records." The matron stepped out of the lift and followed a corridor to the left, past several doors each labelled with a different sub-division of the DMLE. Soon she came to an unassuming plain door on the right, with a small plaque which read ' **Department of Magical Records** '. Entering, she found herself in a small room with a wooden desk across from the door. Behind the desk sat a witch, along with rows upon rows of messy shelves, which she knew stored all of the Ministry's records.

"Hello Mary." She said, approaching the witch behind the desk, who looked up from the parchment she was writing on.

"Poppy! It's been a while!" The young witch replied excitedly.

"I know Mary, but I've been so busy at Hogwarts. Often it is easier to just send a house-elf." Madam Pomfrey explained.

"Yes, I saw that one of them came in earlier." Mary responded. "But that doesn't explain why you're here now?"

"I need another record, Mary. This one is rather, shall we say, delicate, in nature. It's not something I wish to entrust on just anyone."

"I understand. You realise of course, that I must log the record accessed? I don't need to know the reason though, if that helps."

"Yes, I suppose we must do everything by the book." Poppy sighed. "It is unfortunate, but I think it will be okay. I need to access the records on all magical bonds."

"That's fine." Mary said, dipping her quill in an inkpot then using it to write down the record name on another piece of parchment strewn across the desk. "I'm intrigued as to what could be in there that is relevant to you at Hogwarts though – it's mostly just marriages these days. Other bonds are just so rare now, unfortunately. Don't tell me though – I'm sure the less I know, the better!" She finished slyly.

"Thanks Mary, can I just go and find it myself?"

"That's fine Poppy. We should look into meeting up for lunch sometime." She suggested, hopefully.

"That we should." Madam Pomfrey agreed. "I just don't know when I'll have the time. Students are even managing to get themselves injured over the Christmas Holidays now." She said, frustrated. "I'll owl you if I ever get some free time?"

"That would be good. I'm off to get some food from the canteen down the hall – I can trust you in here on your own, and you can see yourself out. Bye!" Mary said, rounding the desk and leaving the room.

Poppy walked over to the shelves, and started working her way along them, until she reached ' **M** '. Near the end of the row she located the required file – ' **Magical Bonds** '. It was one of the few files in the Department that updated itself automatically whenever a new bond was formed. Mostly, it just contained marriage bonds.

Madam Pomfrey sat down at the desk and started slowly flicking back through the pages. She didn't know what sort of date to look for, so was expecting it to take a while. After a few minutes, she had reached July 1992. She was about to turn the page again when out of the corner of her eye she noticed the record she was looking for:

 _ **Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley  
**_ _ **Soul Bond  
**_ _ **Started: 27th June 1992  
**_ _ **Completed: 1st July 1992**_

Shocked that her suspicions were correct, she sat still for a few minutes, before rousing herself enough to return the file to its proper place on the shelves, and make her way back out of the ministry to the fireplaces in the atrium, where she flooed back to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing.

* * *

In the Hospital Wing, Professor McGonagall had conjured another chair to sit on while she watched over the two young teens sharing a bed, still surrounded by the same golden light. She couldn't move through it still, however Fawkes had gently settled himself on the headboard of Harry's bed, and was trilling softly.

Before long, shoe heard the floo activate again in Madam Pomfrey's office, and standing, banished her chair from the room. She turned to greet Poppy again. "Did you find what you were looking for?" She asked as she turned to face the healer. However, when she saw Madam Pomfrey's face, she quickly conjured the chair back and sat her down in it. "Are you okay, Poppy?" She asked, worried.

"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine." Poppy said, shaking herself. "I found what I was looking for." She said, focusing on Minerva.

"Well, what is it?" The older witch asked impatiently.

"They – Merlin, Minerva, it's so special and so unlikely I can hardly believe it!"

"What is it, Poppy?" Professor McGonagall asked, starting to get concerned.

"They have a soul bond, Minerva." She finally responded, softly. Professor McGonagall reared back in shock.

"Really?" She asked. It was so unlikely, there hadn't been a soul bond heard of in such a long time, that most people just considered them myths.

"Yes, really! I saw the record with my own eyes, and I still hardly believe it. It explains an awful lot though." Poppy mused.

"Like what?" Minerva asked, intrigued.

"Well, at the end of last year, when they were both here after the whole Chamber incident, Albus insisted they share a bed until the end of the year. Then special arrangements were put in place when they left to ensure they stayed together the entire time."

"Yes, that would also explain why they both came to my office at the start of term, rather than just Harry. But why would they need to maintain contact?"

"Maintaining physical contact provides a way for the bond to stabilise. Usually, records show that it is formed at a time of physical intimacy. However, with our young couple I think it was started when Harry saved Ginny's life, almost dying himself in the process. The bond started forming, but as it didn't have a chance to finish in its normal way, resorted to using physical contact. I think they could separate briefly, for example to use the bathroom, but after a short period it started resulting in pain for both of them, hence the sharing a bed. However, I'm not sure this is why they both came to your office, Minerva." She explained.

"Why not? It makes sense to me." Minerva asked.

"Because the record said that their bond started on the 27th June this year, the day they were in the Chamber, but was completed on the 1st July, just a few days later. It was completed the first day of the summer holidays. I believe they would have known this – It would have been difficult to miss. Just being separated for a few minutes would have shown that something had changed."

"So why do you think they were still maintaining contact when they arrived at Hogwarts in September, if they already knew the bond was complete?"

Madam Pomfrey thought about this for a moment, but then Fawkes trilled a different tune loudly from his position on the bed. Looking over, she had an idea. "Dumbledore?" She almost asked, looking at the phoenix questioningly. Fawkes bobbed his head gently.

"What do you mean Poppy?"

"Dumbledore clearly knew about their bond – that's why he spoke to me before the holidays. Maybe he didn't know it had completed, and they didn't want him to know as long as possible."

"I'm not sure I understand why, but I guess it makes sense. We'll have to ask them when they awaken. Do you have any ideas for that now Poppy?"

"Yes, actually, I do." She replied. "I think the reason Ginny kept falling unconscious was that their souls are now linked. Harry is unconscious, so Ginny is as well. I don't think this has affected their sleeping yet, but it might do in the future. I think they have become so connected that when Harry was affected by the Dementors, it affected Ginny too."

"So Miss Weasley will only awake if she is awoken at the same time as Mr Potter then, Poppy?" Minerva asked.

"I believe so, but we can't wake Harry yet. His injuries are still too severe. And must you refer to them so formally while it is just us?" She asked.

"Why not?" Professor McGonagall replied. "It's habit forming, as that is how I must address them in class."

"Well, for starters, _'Miss Weasley'_ is technically incorrect. If you wish to get technical, she is now _'Mrs Potter'_." Minerva gasped. "A soul bond is proof of magically-binding marriage, after all."

"But Poppy, we can't refer to her as Mrs Potter in school!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

"We'll ask her what she prefers, but to be fair, _'Ms Weasley'_ is also just as valid." Poppy replied. "However, if she wishes it I have no problems with calling her Mrs Potter in private."

Professor McGonagall sank down onto a nearby bed. "This is an awful lot to take in, and I'm not even directly affected by it." She chuckled ruefully.

"I know, but there's not much we can do. We'll have to speak to them when they wake up. That should be tomorrow morning. If you wish to come down before breakfast, we can _Rennervate_ them both together. But for now, could you please remove the encampment outside my hospital?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"You always leave me the worst jobs." Professor McGonagall complained good-naturedly. "I'll see you in the morning then." She said, leaving the room quickly. Luckily, the privacy curtain was still up around Harry and Ginny, so those outside could not see the golden light around them, or that they were even now effectively sharing a bed, with a phoenix watching over them.

* * *

"Minerva, how are they?" Professor Dumbledore asked, standing, as she closed the door behind her. She glared at him for addressing her with her first name in front of students, but replied anyway. "Mr Potter is recovering from his injuries still, but may be awake tomorrow. Ms Weasley is sleeping off the after-effects of her unconsciousness, although Madam Pomfrey is no closer to working out what caused her to faint in the first place. It is her hope that she will also be awake by tomorrow. For now, however, Madam Pomfrey asks that you all stop camping out here. You may come back tomorrow at lunch to see if she will allow visitors then, but no earlier. Do you understand?" She asked, looking pointedly at the students. They nodded, but she could tell none of them were happy.

"For now, I think I will retire to my quarters for the evening. It has been a worrying day." She finished.

"Minerva!" Professor Dumbledore called after her retreating form, ignoring the glare she once again sent in his direction. "I have spoken to the Minister. I thought you might be interested to know that he has agreed to withdraw half of the Dementors around the ground on a trial period, provided we immediately inform him of any other incidents that may occur."

"That is… a relief." Professor McGonagall admitted. "I haven't been able to concentrate at all this year, knowing that I'm surrounded by those creatures." She said, before continuing to her room, as reluctantly all the others left too.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was pacing in his office. Fawkes still hadn't returned, but that was the least of his worries. His familiar had disappeared for prolonged periods before.

He had noticed Minerva say 'Ms Weasley' instead of 'Miss Weasley'. _'Does she know something? She can't – there would be no reason for her to look it up. She must just have decided to switch to using Ms for all female students.'_ He hadn't noticed it before, but then he hadn't paid much attention to how his deputy was addressing the students recently. However, he did vow to keep an ear out and listen for how she addressed anyone else in the next few days.

No, what Albus Dumbledore was most concerned about was the fact that Ginny had fallen unconscious as well as Harry. Harry had not been a surprise – after all, with all the bad memories in his past, it was not unbelievable that he would react especially poorly to a close encounter with Dementors. However, Ginny had been nowhere near any of the foul creatures when she fainted. There were reports of her other teammates sitting on the reserve stand hearing her say "Harry" before she fainted, but Albus dind't know whether they were truthful or not.

 _'What will this do for my plans?'_ He wondered. _'Are they already so tightly linked that one falling unconscious pulls the other under as well?'_ This would cause issues for his plans – if a simple stunning spell directed at Ginny would cause Harry to pass out as well, that could be disastrous if facing Voldemort, or indeed any other Death Eaters. And Albus needed Harry to be able to fight.

The other concern was that if the bond had reached this point so quickly, when would it manifest in other ways? Albus hadn't managed to do much research into their bond – after all, there hadn't been one in over two centuries. Who knew what else could happen?

* * *

 **A/N:** I know I don't usually put Author's Notes at the end of chapters, however I jst thought I should clarify that _~text~_ is Fawkes typing, with his beak. That idea took a while to develop correctly, and I'm not terribly happy with it, so if anyone can think of another way for Fawkes to communicate with Minerva and Poppy, I'm open to suggestions! As always, please review - it makes the writing worth it!


	19. Mischief Makers

**A/N:** Here's the next chapter. I'm going to attempt posting every week around this time. Unfortunately it won't always be possible as my timetable is forever changing, but that's the plan. We'll see how long it lasts before I get behind with writing again! As a remider, _~text~_ is Fawkes typing with his beak. The last two chapters were both originally meant to be part of the next one, but as you can see, they each grew much larger than I originally anticipated! I haven't exactly been following my plan - I decide what I want to do in a chapter, then when I get to writing it I inevitably throw that out the window and shift most of it to the next one! I guess it's not all bad - it means you guys get a lot more story to read! On a separate note - I'm still looking for more ideas for pranks. I've got two, but I'm going to need more to get through this year. ( **Disclaimer** in Chapter 1)

 **Chapter 19 – Mischief Makers**

The next morning found Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall once again in the Hospital Wing, looking over Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, currently nestled up together in the same bed, with Fawkes watching from the headboard and a golden sphere surrounding them.

"How do I get myself into these situations?" Madam Pomfrey asked rhetorically, shaking her head. "I've not got a clue how we're going to get through that, for lack of a better word, shield, to try and _rennervate_ them."

Fawkes launched himself into the air and glided through into the matron's office once again. Settling himself in front of the typewriter, he pecked out _~The golden light will allow through your waking spells, just not anything that could cause harm to the Chosen Pair, nor any other people. It is how I am able to fly through myself.~_

"Well, that makes it easier then." Professor McGonagall said, having followed the phoenix to see what he would type. She headed back out into the infirmary. "Fawkes says we can cast _rennervate_ through the shield, just not enter ourselves. It is designed to prevent any possible harm from coming to them."

"Okay then Minerva. I'll do Harry and you Ginny. On the count of three." They both raised their wands at the pair on the bed. "One, two, three, _rennervate!_ ".

Several things happened at once. Harry and Ginny both sat up straight, pulling out of each other's embrace and completely separating. As they woke up, the golden sphere surrounding them dissipated, somehow sensing that the danger had passed and they could now take care of themselves. As soon as the pair on the bed completely lost contact with each other though, a light blue arc shot out between their hands. They both yelped in pain, and quickly rejoined their hands again, stopping the arcing. They panted slightly from the pain, but otherwise looked no worse for wear.

Fawkes settled himself back on the headboard, unseen by the teenagers on the bed, whilst the two older witches moved forward to come up beside the bed.

Ginny recovered first, and looked up at Madam Pomfrey. "What happened?" She asked.

"Well that's an improvement at least." Madam Pomfrey said swiftly.

"What?"

Minerva spoke up from the other side of the bed. "Oh really Poppy, they've just been through a terrible ordeal. You can at least be somewhat kind to them. I don't see why you insist on this persona in front of the students anyway."

"Oh all right then. Sorry, Ginny. I was commenting that that was the first time you'd got the full sentence out. I tried _rennervating_ you several times yesterday, and each time you only got halfway through asking what had happened before you fell unconscious again."

Harry had recovered by this point as well, and looked slightly amused at the byplay between the Professor and Matron. "Madam Pomfrey, what happened to us? I remember chasing the Snitch into the air… but then nothing. What happened? Did we win the game?"

"From what we can tell Mr Potter, from what we could see on the ground and what Mr Malfoy has told us, you were attacked by a swarm of dementors above the pitch. You gave Mr Malfoy enough warning to return to the pitch safely, however you fell unconscious yourself. We found the Snitch in your hand when we brought you in. Gryffindor won."

"Really Minerva, you've left the important bits out!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "When you fainted, you fell off your broom. Professor Dumbledore slowed your fall, whilst Professor McGonagall conjured a mat to soften your impact with the ground. That didn't save you from all your injuries though, so we brought you straight up here, and I spent the afternoon patching you up. I'm sorry to say you had a few broken bones and some large bruises, but they're as good as new now."

"Thanks Madam Pomfrey. But why is Ginny here? And what happened to my broom?" Ginny had up until this point just been listening, with her head buried in Harry's shoulder, with Harry idly stroking her hair, as she remembered the horrible sights of the day before. However, at hearing Harry's first question she looked up, interested.

Professor McGonagall answered, "I have your broom here, Mr Longbottom and Mr Finnegan spent a good portion of the afternoon searching the grounds to salvage it. I'm sorry Harry, but it blew off in the wind towards the Whomping Willow. You know that tree doesn't like to be hit…" She trailed off, handing the young wizard a cloth wrapped around many shards of broken broomstick.

Harry looked devastated for a moment at the loss of his first broom, but Ginny gently rubbed his back and whispered in his ear. Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall exchanged a glance at this. He looked up, and asked, "But that still doesn't explain why Ginny is here?"

Madam Pomfrey fielded this question. "It seems that when you fell unconscious in the air, Ginny also fainted down on the ground, at the reserves bench. Every time I tried to wake her up, she would just faint again immediately, until we woke her up at the exact same time as you."

Harry and Ginny shared a surprise glance. Was this something to do with their bond? And if so, did the two witches watching them know about it? Ginny was the first to speak, hesitantly. "Um… what made you try _rennervating_ us both at the same time?"

Madam Pomfrey sighed before answering. "I was struggling to find what had caused you to faint, Ginny. I'd exhausted all the normal paths of investigation, so instead decided to check another property. Most healers don't believe in soul magic, but I do. I cast a spell to show me your soul's colours. Needless to say, I was surprised. With a quick verification of the Ministry records, I found that your soul colour had changed since your birth. With Fawkes' and Professor McGonagall's help," Here Harry and Ginny quickly looked round at the phoenix preening his feathers on the headboard, before back at Madam Pomfrey, "and with a check of Harry's soul too, we eventually came to the conclusion that you two share a soul-bond."

Seeing that they were not surprised, Professor McGonagall asked them, "This isn't new to you, is it? May I assume that this is your good reason for bringing Miss Weasley with your, Mr Potter, when I asked you to visit my office at the start of term?"

Harry just nodded meekly, before speaking up. "Sorry Professor. We'd been meaning to tell you, but lots got in the way, and, well, it's very private and personal for us. It just feels _wrong_ talking about it. I don't know why." None of them saw the glare Madam Pomfrey shot at Professor McGonagall.

"That's fine Mr Potter." She assured him. "At least I know now, so I can better help you deal with it."

Madam Pomfrey continued her story. "Anyway, from there it wasn't a huge leap of logic to work out that if you wouldn't wake up individually, then you might together. Fawkes had already carried your bed across the Hospital Wing, Ginny, so we waited for this morning for the rest of Harry's injuries to heal before we tried waking you. I wish to keep you both here until dinner, but all being well you should be able to leave then."

Both Harry and Ginny were still a bit surprised at how informal Madam Pomfrey was, unlike their previous encounters with her, which for Harry was too many.

"Rest assured, we will keep this secret for you. But for now, I see more pressing issues." Madam Pomfrey said, a smirk growing on her face.

Professor McGonagall saw where this was going, and injected "Oh Poppy, must you?"

"But of course Minerva. It is only fair. So Ginny, would you prefer to be addressed as Ms Weasley, or Mrs Potter?" Ginny blushed scarlet. She didn't often hear her proper name, due to nobody really knowing about it, so it still sent shivers up her spine whenever she heard it.

"Um, I think Ms Weasley would be best, at least in public. We want to try and keep it a secret. Although I wouldn't object to hearing Mrs Potter in private." She grinned, and Harry smiled at her.

"Obviously you will still be called Ms Weasley in school." Professor McGonagall verified. "But I guess if you wish for it, then we can call you Mrs Potter in private. Now, we've inferred that Professor Dumbledore knows at least a little about your bond. How much does he know?"

"Honestly Professor?" Harry answered, "We don't know. He gave us barely any information to begin with. We found out more from visiting with the Goblins over the summer. He didn't tell us we were officially married, nor how we should go about completing the bond. But that doesn't mean he didn't know those things. We're beginning to think he may not have our best interests at heart." He looked a little worried at revealing their fears in front of the two witches, and also glanced guiltily over at Fawkes.

The phoenix quickly flew into the office to collect the typewriter, then returned to the bed, settling on the cover over Harry and Ginny's legs. _~Fear not, Chosen Pair. I understand your troubles. No, Albus does not want what is best for you. He has great plans, and none of this puzzled into them. Unfortunately, he has lost all concept of making a mistake. He is convinced that his ways are right. Regrettably, I cannot tell you anything about them, as his familiar I can only say so much about what I hear and see. Rest assured, I will help you in any way I can.~_

"That's unfortunate." Professor McGonagall commiserated. "I assure you, I will do whatever I can to ensure that Professor Dumbledore does not get his way if it at detriment to you. After all, I have to look after my lions." She finished almost kindly.

"Thank you, Professor." Ginny said, with Harry nodding in agreement.

Fawkes was busy typing again, as Madam Pomfrey read it out. _~You have already surpassed in your bond the limits of what Albus knew. He could find nothing beyond the details of marriage, emancipation and completing the bond. Synchronicity is, I am happy to say, far off his short list of knowledge. There may be points in the future where your bond manifests itself in other ways as well, but he will also know nothing of these unless you choose to tell him.~_

"Well, it seems like Fawkes is on our side!" Madam Pomfrey commented.

"Um, Madam Pomfrey? Do you have any idea why we can't separate?" Harry asked. "When our bond was forming at the end of last year and we had to stay in the Hospital Wing, it was because if we stayed apart for too long we developed an overwhelming need for contact, that could start to become slightly painful. But that disappeared as soon as the bond was completed. Why is it now painful to separate for even a second?"

Madam Pomfrey thought for a moment before answering. "I would guess that your bond is responding to the situation you found yourselves in yesterday. Dementors don't kill, when they kiss you they suck out your very soul, leaving a lifeless shell behind. For you two, that could be very dangerous. You no longer have just you own soul. Instead, you share each other's. I believe it is only temporary, and that it is a reflex reaction on the part of your bond to try and keep you safe for a bit before allowing you both free reign over your bodies again."

"At least it's not permanent." Ginny said. "I mean, I like being in constant contact with Harry," she blushed, "and I probably would be anyway, but it could make showering and going to the toilet a little awkward."

Madam Pomfrey chuckled, before waving her wand over them both. They felt a weird sensation in their lower bodies. "There, that should take care of the toilet issue for a while." She said. "I guess you'll just have to be dirty for a bit. Hopefully, it will wear off by this evening when I discharge you. For now, I suggest we move the beds apart a little for when you have visitors, but keep them close enough so that you can still hold hands."

She levitated Ginny's bed a few centimetres away from Harry's, allowing a small gap to open up between them. The two teens looked disappointedly at the distance, wishing they could just stay in each other's arms, before Ginny clambered over to her bed, making sure to keep holding Harry's hand.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Ginny asked. "You said our soul colours have changed. What were they, and what are they now?"

"Yours, Ginny, used to be red. Harry, yours used to be green. Now, well I'll let the image speak for itself." She cast " _Proiectura Meam._ " over both of them, once again causing the mesmerising golden spheres with green and red streaks to rise up into the air. "They're beautiful!" Ginny exclaimed, while Harry just placed his other hand over her one that he was already holding, clasping it tightly.

"What do they mean?" Harry asked, curious.

"The golden sphere overall represents your bond." Madam Pomfrey answered. "The side with green streaks represents Harry's soul, while the side with red streaks is Ginny's."

"But what about the black specks in mine?" He asked.

"We are still trying to work that out. I believe it might have something to do with what happened when you were a baby, Harry." Madam Pomfrey said gently. "I'll keep looking into answers, but it could be a while until I come to a conclusion. Whatever it is, we know it wasn't partially transferred into Ginny."

* * *

It was several hours until Madam Pomfrey had decided they were well enough for visitors. Harry and Ginny didn't know why, but it seemed Madam Pomfrey would generally allow visitors until the patient woke up, and would then immediately kick them out. Of course, in this situation nobody had been allowed in to begin with. Fawkes had flown off an hour previously, evidently having decided that the pair had recovered sufficiently, but he did return the typewriter to Madam Pomfrey's office before departing in a flash of flame.

The first people to arrive were Fred and George. They only stopped by long enough to find out what was happening about the prank planning meeting they had scheduled for that day. Ginny had initially been angry with them for only thinking about pranks when Harry had been severely injured the day before, but he managed to calm her down before she pulled her wand – something the Twins were very grateful for. It was agreed that they would reschedule it for the next Sunday, as it wasn't as important as some other things that Harry and Ginny wanted to look into first.

Eventually it was decided that they would meet up the next Saturday. That would give them a chance to get through the week of schoolwork, but leave them free for Halloween, which was Sunday. Generally, the school scheduled a few seasonal activities for the occasion – after all, the holiday was very much like the wizarding world in general.

Soon after the twins left, Ron, Neville and Seamus arrived. It seemed they had walked together from the dorms. Ron frowned upon seeing Harry and his sister holding hands, but ignored it for the moment.

Instead, he turned to Ginny, and asked, "Are you OK? Why did you fall unconscious?" To the general observer, it would seem as if Ron was simply concerned for his sister. However, Ginny could hear the underlying tone in his voice, which she knew was because he was actually angry about something.

"I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey doesn't know why I fainted – it could have been the excitement at the pitch, or the shock of seeing Harry falling off his broom. Besides, shouldn't you be more concerned about your 'best mate'?" She asked, annoyed. "After all – he was the one to fall from the sky having suffered from Dementors."

Ron turned and opened his mouth, but on looking at Harry he caught sight of the couple's joined hands again. Instead of what he was originally going to ask, he went back into protective older brother mode, and roughly asked "Can't you let go of my baby sister for one minute? I don't know what's got into you. You don't talk to me at all anymore!"

Harry could sense Ginny getting angry, but this time he was unable to calm her down, as he was getting frustrated with her brother himself. "Look, Ron. I don't care what you think about me and Ginny – the only ones who get to have any say in that are us. And as for not talking to you – its not that I don't want to, but every time I try, you get on my case again about Ginny. I don't want to put up with you questioning why I'm dating Ginny – and I'll always choose you over her." Ginny beamed over at him, and squeezed his hand in thanks.

Ron drew himself up and looked ready to let his anger reign free, but at that moment Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office, having been alerted by the monitoring charms still running on Harry and Ginny that they were starting to experience some stressful and possibly detrimental emotions.

"Mr Weasley, if you can't stop annoying these two, then you will have to leave. I will not have you affecting their recovery." She said, as she marched over, doing a good dragon-lady impression. Most the students thought Madam Pomfrey was indeed some sort of human-dragon hybrid. Harry and Ginny of course, now knew the truth, but Ron didn't. Spluttering slightly, he decided the best course of action would be to get away from her until he had calmed down, so he turned and fled the Hospital Wing.

Smiling at her patients, they sent grins of thanks back at her. She turned to Neville and Seamus, and asked, "Please try to keep them calm, Mr Longbottom, Mr Finnegan. With any luck they may get out of here by this evening." The two boys looked just as shocked as Ron, though for the opposite reason – Madam Pomfrey had just smiled, and spoken kindly to them.

They both nodded their consent, before Seamus replied "We'll try our best, Madam Pomfrey."

"Thank you, boys." She headed back into her office, to continue looking over her records.

Harry's two dormmates made their way over to the couple, and sat down on the chairs beside his bed. "Sorry 'bout Ron." Seamus apologized. "We didn't know he'd be like that."

"It's OK guys." Ginny replied for both of them. "It's not your fault Ron can't keep his mouth shut."

"Dean wanted to come and visit as well, but Filch has got him in detention for the day. Godric knows what was bad enough for a full day of detention with _Filch_ , but there ya go." Seamus continued.

"That's too bad." Harry commented. "Even an hour or two with Filch is horrific!"

"Did you hear about the game?" Neville asked. He knew that if he hadn't heard yet, Harry would be dying to know.

"Professor McGonagall said I caught the Snitch, and we won. Apparently, I caught it during my fall, while I was unconscious." Harry finished sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding Ginny's.

"Man – that's impressive!" Seamus whistled. "So you know 'bout ya broom then?"

"Yeah." Harry pointed to the bundle next to his bed. "Professor McGonagall also gave that to me. Thank you for finding it by the way guys." He said.

"Your welcome Harry – I only wish we'd got to it before the Whomping Willow had beaten it up quite so much." Neville replied, sadly.

"It's not your fault guys, it's that stupid tree – I don't get why something like that is planted on the grounds of a school anyway! It could easily injure or even kill someone if they're not careful!"

Hermione and Demelza walked in at that moment. They sat in the two chairs next to Ginny's bed – Hermione slightly nervously. Demelza spoke up. "I'm glad you're both awake again. I saw Hermione in the common room – she seemed nervous about coming to visit you, so I brought her with me. I hope that's OK?" She asked, unsure.

"Yeah, that's fine Demelza – thanks." Ginny replied. Both Harry and she knew that Hermione had stopped talking to Ron again. They hoped it meant she was going to start speaking to them again – after all, she wasn't the type to go off on someone for no apparent reason. However, the older girl hadn't sought them out in the week since her disagreement with Ginny's brother. They were glad she was there now.

"We were just talking about the Whomping Willow." Harry informed the girls. "It seems to have completely destroyed my broom." He said sadly. Ginny squeezed his hand again. "Anyway, we were wondering why something so deadly was planted on the school grounds. Surely there's a safety risk there?" He asked rhetorically. Hermione however, looked up.

"I'll look into the history of the tree." She said quietly. "That is, if you want me to?" She asked, unsurely.

"That would be good, Hermione. Merlin knows you're the best in our year at research." Harry replied. Hermione just nodded in recognition of the compliment. Before long, the four friends had to head down to the Great Hall for lunch. Madam Pomfrey had a house-elf pop in to bring some food for Harry and Ginny, and while they were eating it, two more visitors arrived.

"Mum! Dad! What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, sitting up straighter in her bed.

"Oh, you're awake Ginny." Mrs Weasley said, rushing over and engulfing Ginny in a hug. "We were so worried when Professor McGonagall flooed to say you'd fainted at the Quidditch match. Why did you faint anyway – weren't you on the ground?"

Meanwhile, Mr Weasley had made his way over to Harry's bed. "It's good to see you're both awake now, son." He said, gently. When Mrs Weasley finally released Ginny, she turned to Harry and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug instead, while Mr Weasley greeted his daughter. Harry and Ginny were happy that they were worried about them, but concerned about how far apart they were being pulled by the simultaneous hugging. Ginny steeped in.

"Mum, Dad, we're fine. You can let us go, _please_!" She stressed the last word, as Harrys hand was almost pulled from hers. They managed to keep a finger clasped together.

"What, why?" Mrs Weasley released Harry and looked over, confused.

"Please just, sit down, and we'll explain everything." Ginny said calmly, as Harry gasped for breath. She took the opportunity to pull Harry's hand fully back into hers, thankful that they hadn't lost contact.

Mr and Mrs Weasley took the two seats at the side of Ginny's bed, and Mrs Weasley asked "Why were you so concerned about us hugging you, Ginny-dear?"

Ginny sighed. "I think its best if we tell you about everything that happened, from the beginning. Please, it will be easier if you don't ask any questions until the end."

Mr and Mrs Weasley nodded in acceptance, but it was Harry that started the story. "During the match yesterday, I caught sight of the Snitch. While I was chasing it, it kept flying higher and higher. Soon, I started noticing it getting much colder, before suddenly I burst through a cloud to see a swarm of Dementors waiting for me."

"WHAT?" Mrs Weasley practically screamed, interrupting him. "Dementors were, on the grounds?" She asked shakily. "We were assured they wouldn't be allowed in!"

"Yes, the Dementors were above the pitch. Clearly, the full stands were too much of a temptation for them – almost all of them had left the perimeter. What do you mean – 'we were assured'?" He asked.

Mr Weasley replied. "At the beginning of the year, Dumbledore sent letters out to all the parents to inform us of the security plans this year. We didn't like them then, and dislike them even more now – but there's not much we can do. The Ministry is looking into keeping every safe, but is still totally ignorant of the dangers that Dementors pose to any innocent person. But please, continue with your story. We didn't mean to interrupt."

"Well, when I saw all those Dementors, I shouted at Malfoy, who was following me, to head back to the ground. It took a little convincing, but once he saw the Dementors as well, he was off like a shot."

"Noble prat." Ginny muttered under her breath, shaking her head, although Harry still heard her and shot a self-deprecating grin in her direction. Mrs Weasley also heard her, and frowned at her daughter's use of language, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, before I could get back down myself, I fell unconscious from the effects of the Dementors." Harry continued. "Professor Dumbledore slowed my fall while Professor McGonagall broke it with a soft mat, but I was still rather badly injured, so I was brought up here, and kept unconscious overnight."

"But what happened to Ginny?" Mrs Weasley asked. "If the Dementors were as high as you said, then there was no way they should have affected Ginny so badly."

"We were just getting to that, Mum." Ginny picked up the story. "When Harry fainted, so did I, on the ground. Apparently, Madam Pomfrey tried to _rennervate_ me, but I just fell unconscious again immediately. She brought me up here as well, and tried to _rennervate_ me again every hour, but each time I only had enough time to half-ask 'What happened?' before I fainted again. When she and Professor McGonagall tried to wake us both up at the same time, it worked fine."

"Why?" Mr Weasley asked, confused.

"Apparently, it's another side effect of our bond." Ginny said. "Synchronicity – because we're so intertwined now, when Harry fainted so did I, and I couldn't wake up until Harry did. We don't know how much this will affect us with other spells yet, and are a bit concerned to find out. Especially if for something like this it will take two people casting the spell at the same time to wake us up."

"So does this relate in any way to why you were concerned about the hugging?" Mrs Weasley asked. "I know I can be a bit firm, but surely that shouldn't affect this synchronicity?"

"No, it won't. But something else came of yesterday. Because of what happened to Harry in the air, our bond has gotten scared. It has taken measures to prevent us getting into any danger again, at least for today. Madam Pomfrey reckons it should wear off this evening, but for now we have to remain in contact, or these painful blue bolts arc between our hands."

"So, I take it Madam Pomfrey knows about your bond, then?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Yes, and Professor McGonagall too." Harry confirmed. "They both found out yesterday, while trying to work out how to cure us."

Mrs Weasley was not to be deterred though. "But why is the bond so concerned? I mean, I know there were Dementors, but what does that mean?"

Ginny sighed again. "Can you go and get Madam Pomfrey please, Dad?" She asked. "I think you need to see it like we did, but I don't know the spell." She added.

Mr Weasley quickly stood up and knocked on the door to Madam Pomfrey's office. After a few words were exchanged, they both made their way over to the young couple.

"You want me to show your parents what I showed you earlier, Ginny?" Madam Pomfrey asked kindly. At Ginny's nod, she turned to the Weasley parents. "Do you remember what colour your daughter's soul was at birth?" She asked.

"I remember it being a striking red. I can't remember any of the boys', but Ginny's stuck with me." Mrs Weasley replied, confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'll make this easier, and just say that Harry's was an emerald green – they're both rather fitting, don't you think?" She asked, and they nodded in agreement. "OK. I'm going to cast the spell to show soul colour now – and you'll see what had me so shocked. _Proiectura Meam_." She said, waving her wand over both Harry and Ginny again. Once more, the golden spheres rose into the air, and both Mr and Mrs Weasley gasped.

"Oh my!" Mrs Weasley whispered, holding a hand to her mouth. "But, how? I didn't think souls changed colour?"

"It's not normal." Madam Pomfrey agreed. "But I have a theory. Would you like to hear it?" At their nods, she continued. "I believe that the golden sphere represents Harry and Ginny's bond. The green side is Harry's soul, and the red side is Ginny's. As you can see, they are split evenly between the two, meaning that half of each soul is in each body. In effect, they are looking after part of each other's soul. This is the basis of my theory for why they must remain in contact. Harry's soul was almost taken by the Dementors, but it wouldn't have been just his – it would have been a bit of each of them. Neither of them would be complete without the bond – if one of them were to be given the Dementor's Kiss, in effect, so would the other."

"No!" Mrs Weasley whimpered.

"Mum, it's fine." Ginny said gently. "We're not about to go off and try to get ourselves killed. But even without this bond, if Harry were to die, I don't think I could live without him."

"And I know I couldn't live without Ginny." Harry affirmed, reaching over and pulling her into his arms protectively. Ginny just snuggled in, while Mrs Weasley looked on in despair. Although she knew there was nothing she could do about it, there was part of her that couldn't stand the thought that her baby girl was so totally linked with a boy. Even if that boy did happen to be Harry Potter.

Madam Pomfrey reluctantly released the spell. "I think that the reason they must remain in contact now is the bond ensuring their safety for a little while. They can hardly run off on their own and lose the other's soul portion if they are stuck together. However, I don't think it will last too much longer, maybe just until the end of the day. Of course, this is all just speculation on my part – no-one really knows anything about this bond."

Mrs Weasley got up and enveloped both Harry and Ginny in her arms, making sure they were able to remain in skin-to-skin contact with each other. Meanwhile Mr Weasley asked "What were the black specks in Harry's soul? They were only in his green portion, but they weren't anywhere in the green portion of Ginny's."

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "That's still under investigation. I'm hoping it's not anything to worry about too much, but who knows with Harry. Anyway, make sure they both eat – they need to get their strength up before classes tomorrow." With that, she returned to her office.

Eventually Mrs Weasley released the pair on the bed, but they stayed in each other's arms. She moved back to her chair and sat down again, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

"Do you have any ideas about what to do with this synchronicity?" Mr Weasley asked, intrigued. "I mean, I'm sure it could get quite annoying if a spell shot during a Defence Against the Dark Arts practical caused Ginny to faint in Charms. Of course, I could understand it in History of Magic, but…" He trailed off.

Harry and Ginny exchanged guilty glances. "Um, that won't happen Dad." Ginny said uncomfortably.

Mrs Weasley narrowed her eyes. "You seem awfully sure about that, Ginny-dear. How do you know it won't affect you in a situation like that?"

"Well, if Harry falls unconscious from a spell in Defence, then me fainting could also be passed off as falling unconscious from a spell in Defence."

"But there's no way you both have it at the same time, is there?" Mrs Weasley asked. At the looks in their eyes, she asked fearfully, "What is it?"

"I'm in Harry's classes Mum. Apparently because I did so well last year the Board of Governors allowed me to skip second year – I'm a third year this year."

"WHAT!" Mrs Weasley practically shrieked. "When did you find this out – and why haven't you told us?" She asked disappointedly.

"Uh, Professor Dumbledore sent me a letter with my Hogwarts supplies list, around my birthday. And I didn't want to tell you until it was done – I was worried you would say no."

"Of course I would – that's way too much work. What was Dumbledore thinking, allowing this to happen?"

"Molly," Mr Weasley placated, but he was cut off by Ginny.

"Mum, this is exactly why I didn't tell you. You're overreacting. I'm keeping my grades up fine, what's the issue? Clearly the Governors thought I could do this, I'm only the second person ever to have this opportunity. Would it kill you to be happy for me?"

"Of course, I'm happy for you Ginny." Mrs Weasley sighed. "I'm very proud of you – I just don't want you to bite off more than you can chew. You've got to learn two years' worth of content by the summer instead of one, while trying to deal with the repercussions of this bond. I'm just worried for you, that's all."

"I understand Mum," Ginny said, laying a hand on Mrs Weasley's arm, "but really, I'm fine. And I have the option to move back down if it gets too much, not that it will. It's much nicer in third year with Harry!"

* * *

It took some convincing but eventually Mrs Weasley accepted that Ginny had advanced a year, and there wasn't much she could do about it. Soon afterwards, both the Weasley parents left, promising to speak to the two teens again soon.

After they had finished eating, Professor Dumbledore made an appearance in the Hospital Wing.

"Good afternoon Harry, Ginny." The headmaster said, approaching their beds. "You will be pleased to know that after a discussion with the Minister, it has been decided that half the Dementors around the castle will be withdrawn, and an investigation will be started into why they entered the grounds."

Harry just frowned. Ginny, sensing he was upset, squeezed his hand again. She had moved back over to her own bed once her parents had left, not knowing who might walk in and see them. She didn't know why Harry seemed annoyed with the Headmaster, but knew that there was probably a good reason for it.

"I must ask, Harry. What did the Dementors make you see that caused you to react so badly?"

Harry just shook his head. "With all due respect sir, I don't want to answer that." Ginny could sense his emotions were in turmoil, and tried to project calmness back at him, although not really knowing how.

"Why ever not, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, surprised.

"You know they're awful memories for me – that should be enough for you to work it out. It's bad enough I have to relieve them in my nightmares and with the Dementors, let alone with you dissecting my life when you don't even care why we're here in the Hospital Wing!"

"Harry, my boy, those memories and why you are caused to relieve them could be of great importance." Dumbledore asserted. "And what do you mean, I haven't shown any concern for you?" He added, questioningly.

"Just that, sir! You came in here and immediately started on about the Dementors and their after effects, without even simply asking how we felt, or what had happened to Ginny in the first place. But as you don't want to ask, then we won't answer." Harry replied, letting some of his anger show. He didn't really mind about himself, but that Dumbledore had just basically ignored Ginny, given he didn't even know why she had fainted the day before, was what really frustrated him.

"All right. Miss Weasley, I'm glad you are looking better now. Do you know what it was that caused you to faint yesterday?" Dumbledore asked, appealing to the younger girl's better senses. He knew that Harry could let his emotions get away from him sometimes.

"I think Harry has spoken for both of us, headmaster." Ginny replied, her voice hard. While at first she hadn't understood his anger, now it made perfect sense. Dumbledore didn't care about them as their own people, just what use they could have to him.

Madam Pomfrey had heard the raised voices, and came through from her office again. "Albus, if you can't keep the children calm, then you must leave. It is imperative that they are not party to too much emotion if I am to release them tonight." She said, putting her best dragon face on. Professor Dumbledore looked over, his mouth open to protest, until he saw the look on her face.

"Um, yes, well I guess I should be leaving now. Harry, Ginny, I'll talk to you another day." He made a hasty retreat, not wanting to get on Madam Pomfrey's bad side.

Once he was gone, the matron turned to the two teens. Ginny had once again shifted over to Harry's bed and was holding him in her arms while whispering to him, trying to calm down his wild emotions. Madam Pomfrey levitated her abandoned bed back towards Harry's.

"Try and calm down, you two. It's best if you don't experience too much in the way of emotions today, at least until I release you. Otherwise you'll have to stay in here tomorrow as well." Ginny looked up at her. "I'll put a curtain around you, and stop visitors for the day. Get some rest, if you can, please." She finished, moving a curtain into place.

Ginny smiled her thanks, before she immediately turned back to comforting Harry. She was pleased that he was angry with Dumbledore on her behalf, but knew that it would be best for him to just relax now as she softly whispered in his ear again.

* * *

It was several hours later when Madam Pomfrey came to check on the two teens again. She stepped round the curtain to see them lying facing each other on the larger bed, whispering gently. She coughed loudly to make her presence known, and they looked over at her, shifting into an upright position.

"I just need to check over you both one more time, and then you can go." She told them, as she started casting spells on Harry, and then Ginny.

"Okay, you seem to have recovered fine, now just to see about your having to remain in contact." She said. "Try and let go of each other now, but if you feel any pain, then immediately take the other's hand again."

Harry and Ginny both looked understandably nervous, remembering the pain from earlier that morning, but slowly started pulling apart nevertheless. Soon, they had completely lost contact with each other, and were pleased to note that the blue bolts did not arc between their hands this time. Although it was nice having to stay with each other, it did wear thin, and they knew it wasn't practical if they were to return to lessons the next day.

"Good, that issue seems to be resolved!" Madam Pomfrey said brightly. "That's not to say it won't happen again, mind you." She warned. "I think if anything similar to this happens to either of you it will come back, and may even last longer next time – so be careful. But for now, you are free to leave. I hope I don't have to see you in here again for a long time, Harry." She smiled at him as she said this.

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey." They both replied, as they got out of bed. As Madam Pomfrey left the curtained off area, they located the change of clothes that had been left for each of them on a chair beside the bed. Turning away from each other, they both quickly changed out of the scratchy hospital pyjamas, and back into their own clothes. Then, taking each other's hand again, they left the Infirmary, hoping they wouldn't have to visit again any time soon.

* * *

On their journey back to the common room, they heard Ron complaining to Seamus and Dean on their return from dinner, the latter of which evidently having been released from the clutches of detention with Filch.

"…bloody rat's gone missing again! I don't know what's got into him this year, but he keeps disappearing. I think it's that horrific fur-ball of Hermione's – it scares him. He runs off, and then I don't see him for days, until I eventually find him wondering around the castle again."

"How do you know it's Scabbers you're finding again?" Seamus asked. "If you just randomly spot him in the castle after days of not seeing him at all, what's to say it's not another rat?"

It was a fair enough question, in Harry's opinion. As far as he knew, Scabbers had no discerning features. After all, he was just a common rat. Ron however, had a different idea.

"He's missing a toe on his front right paw. Has done ever since Percy got him. We don't know how it happened, but I haven't ever seen another rat with the same issue, so it's a good way to identify him."

"Fair enough." Dean commented. "I don't know why you're looking for him though – I would have thought you'd jump at the chance to be rid of him."

"Well yeah, he Is useless. But we can't exactly afford another pet, so I'll take whatever I can get – he's better than nothing." Ron said. Dean and Seamus wisely chose not to comment any further – they knew Ron was touchy about money.

In the next few moments the three boys had left Harry and Ginny's earshot, but they had heard enough.

"Ginny, how long has Scabbers been in your family?" Harry asked.

"I know Percy had him before Ron. Apparently Percy got him soon after I was born – about 12 years ago. As far as I know, he's always been missing a toe, but I've never heard of him running off this often before." Ginny commented.

"Huh. I guess magical rats must live longer. I remember in Muggle Primary School I had to learn about rats – a garden rat normally only lives two or three years. I guess 12 years is possible, but it seems unlikely."

"Maybe. I don't think it's overly important right now – let's head back to the common room and see if Neville and Demelza want to join us in a game of exploding snap." Ginny suggested.

* * *

Before long, Saturday had rolled around. During both Quidditch practices that week, Harry had been forced to practice with a school broom, although he still left the best one for Ginny to use. The way he saw it, if necessary Ginny could take his place in the next game, and at least get some time on the pitch that year, if he couldn't get a new broom in time.

Practices had been brutal, as Harry had attempted to get used to the old broom. However, the difference between it and his Nimbus 2000 was considerable, and he spent Wednesday evening narrowly avoiding Bludgers, rather than helping Ginny practicing Seeking. Saturday morning went a little better, but only because Wood changed it up so that Fred and George, along with Colin Creevey and Ritchie Coote, all aimed Bludgers at all five Chasers (not including Ginny) so that she and Harry could work on Seeking for the session.

Harry was relieved when Quidditch practice was over. Even though he was out of the Bludgers' way that day, Colin and Ritchie were still missing some of their shots, so he still had to keep an eye out around him. The much slower reaction time of the school broom causing him several issues. Once showered, he and Ginny made their way up to Godric's Study, where they awaited Fred and George.

With the Marauder's Map open on the low table in front of them, Harry and Ginny curled up together on the loveseat and sighed contentedly. Soon, they started kissing each other lightly, but were quickly interrupted by a cough from Godric, in his portrait above the fireplace.

"Excuse me Harry, Ginny. According to your map, it appears that Fred and George Weasley are waiting outside the entrance to this study. Are you expecting them?"

"I guess we'd better let them in." Ginny sighed. She was starting to enjoy what Harry and she had been getting up to.

"Don't worry, we can continue this later." Harry said, dropping a kiss on her head, before helping her up, then standing up himself. "Let's get your brothers in here – we've got pranks to plan."

The pair glanced at the map to make sure the Twins were alone outside, then opened the door to the fourth floor corridor. Ginny jumped out, and made her way to the Twins, who were waiting a few meters away down the hall. Taking their hands, she led them in to the Study, while Harry held the door open for them.

Ginny, Fred and George immediately entered the prank planning room, but Harry held back. He looked over at Godric. "Is there a way to ask the Study to add items to already existing rooms Godric?" He asked.

"Yes, it works in much the same way as if you want a completely new room. For a new room, just speak aloud what you wish for in here, and a new door will appear. To add something to an existing room, you should again speak aloud, but in the room you are referring to, so that magic knows where to add it."

"Thanks Godric!" Harry said, entering the prank room behind the others. Once inside, he closed the door and spoke nervously. "Uh, room, could we have a portrait of Godric Gryffindor in here please, connected with the one in the main study?" The other three looked at him as if he were mad, but sure enough, a gold-framed portrait appeared on the wall, and Godric walked in from the side, evidently from his other portrait.

"I must admit Harry," He said jovially, "I didn't think this is what you were planning, but I'm glad you want me to listen in. If you wish for it, I can attempt to provide some assistance with ideas."

"Of course Godric – that's why I wanted you here. I'm sure you know more about the school's secrets than we do – one's that we could use to our advantage!" Harry replied.

Fred and George looked at each other.

"We've got…"

"…a Hogwarts Founder…"

"…helping us plan…"

"…our pranks!"

"How cool…"

"…is that?"

Harry, Ginny and Godric laughed, before Ginny said, "Settle down Twins. We've got some planning to do."

Harry and Ginny took a loveseat on the other side of the room, while Fred and George chose a pair of identical armchairs next to the door. Godric's portrait was hanging directly between the two pairs of teenagers.

"First things first." George started. "I think we need a name."

"Maybe something related to the Marauders?" Fred suggested.

"That makes sense." Harry agreed. "I don't think it should be related to the Marauders though. Don't get me wrong, I get that they were our influence, and I know their map is going to be of a great deal of use to us, but I'm pretty certain at least Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall know who the Marauders really were. More of the teachers might as well. While that's okay for you three, it's rather incriminating for me. After all, the idea is to not get caught!"

"I see where you're coming from Harry." Ginny agreed, curling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. "But we can still relate it to the Marauders in a way. For example, why not use part of the phrase used to open the map? Clearly, Filch never managed to open it, so I reckon we can safely assume that none of the teachers will be able to make that connection."

"That's a good idea." Fred said.

"We shouldn't use to much of it though – we don't want to make the activation phrase too obvious in case anyone else does get hold of it." George cautioned.

"Why not use 'Mischief'?" Harry suggested. "It's rather fitting, and just half of the closing sequence. That's relatively harmless, as you'd need to get the map open first, to accidently get any results from that phrase."

"That works." Agreed Fred. "It's not enough though. There needs to be a bit more to it."

After a few seconds of thinking, Ginny piped up. "What about 'Mischief Makers'?" She suggested hesitantly. "It's fitting to what we are doing, but not too incriminating either." She justified.

"That's brilliant!" Harry said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, mindful of her brothers watching them, even if they were happy with their relationship.

"Yeah, sis, that's great." George agreed. "Now that that's settled, we need to plan our first prank."

Godric spoke up here. "Just out of interest, do you know who you are going to prank first?" He questioned. "Sometimes, a prank works best if it is tailored to the recipient."

The four looked at each other. Who were they going to prank first? Eventually, Fred spoke. "It's got to be Ron or Malfoy." He said. "Ron for how he's treating both of you, and Malfoy because he's an arrogant prick and trying to get Hagrid removed by playing up a minor injury for weeks."

"I think we need to go for Malfoy first." Harry said. "Ron may be annoying at the moment, but I don't think that pranking him is going to fix that. If anything, it might make matters worse. For now, I hope we gave him something to think about last week in the Hospital Wing. You never know, he might change his mind. But if he's still acting like this after Christmas, we can go for him then."

"That makes sense." Fred said. "Although Ron really isn't worth you giving him yet another chance. He's thrown your friendship away when he should just trust you. And that's not even getting into how he's treating Ginny. Oh well, maybe we'll get him after Christmas. He's always so easy to prank – you just need some spiders!"

"We should also do one for the whole school." George added. "Nothing like getting everyone here at once."

"Let's start with the prank on Malfoy." Ginny said. "What are we going to do to him. Obviously, it has got to be small, and short-lasting to begin with – then we can build into more obvious, longer-lasting pranks throughout the year."

"Good idea Ginny – no point going to the best pranks in our arsenal first thing – It's much better to build up to them." George concurred.

"If I may suggest something." Godric interjected. "Why not start off with something that nobody else can see. It minimises public humiliation and can remove proof if he were to go to a teacher about it. That leaves you scot-free to carry out more pranks later on, rather than being caught on the first one."

Eventually the four teenagers decided that they'd start off with shrinking underwear. Throughout the day it would slowly get smaller, so that after about ten hours it would be half the size. It was slow enough to not be noticeable, but fast enough that it would cause Malfoy issues well before the end of the day. And the best part was that he'd hopefully be too embarrassed to go to a Professor – they'd just think he was imagining things.

"Perfect." George said, once they'd decided on their course of action. "Now what shall we do for the whole school?"

"Why not something on food that makes you change into an animal. We could make it vary in duration, and by animal." Ginny suggested.

"That works." Said Harry. "We could even put some of the shorter duration and tamer animals on our own food to reduce the risk of being caught – that way the few people that don't get caught by the food will look very suspicious."

"Look at Ickle Harry – already starting to think like a prankster!" George teased.

"I think we've corrupted him." Fred agreed.

Fred and George agreed that they would work on a light powder that could be sprinkled on the food for breakfast while it was in the kitchens. They would sprinkle it across the food, leaving some with less powder, and some with none. The less powder, the shorter it would last. There would also be a variety of animals, so the Great Hall would be rather amusing come prank day.

"We should do the prank on Malfoy this week." Fred suggested. "We've already got a batch of Slow-Shrink Powder prepared, so we just need to get it into Malfoy's laundry. We'll head down on Monday to do that - the house-elves like us so they won't mind. Then in a fortnight we should have the other powder ready – we'll speak to you then and we can all go down to the kitchens to put that in place."

"Excellent – we'll speak to you again soon guys." Harry said, as they made their way to the exit onto the seventh floor to see the twins out. All in all it had been a productive session, with two pranks having been planned. It was getting quite late, so once the twins had left, Harry and Ginny made their way into the bedroom. After quickly changing into their nightwear, they snuggled up together in bed and shared a few kisses before they both fell asleep, exhausted from the Quidditch practice and prank planning that had been going on that day.


	20. Halloween at Hogwarts

**A/N:** Here's another chapter for you - only a week after when would have been ideal to have it out as well! So far, I seem to just about be sticking to my self-imposed schedule, although this chapter is a little shorter than the last few. It felt like I'd reached a good place to end, even if that did mean leaving parts for the next one. In other news, I still need more ideas for pranks. As you can probably tell from this chapter and the last, there are some coming, but I don't have anywhere near enough ideas lined up to do the Mischief Makers justice! If you have any ideas, please let me know! And a review wouldn't go amiss either, not that I'm begging, mind you... ( **Disclaimer** in Chapter 1).

 **Chapter 20 - Halloween at Hogwarts**

The next day was Halloween. This year was the first year Harry had really considered what that meant for him – the anniversary of that fateful night, and his parents' deaths. The previous two years he had been too busy to really consider it; first with the troll in the castle, and then more recently with Sir Nicholas' Deathday Party, and the voice he could hear in the walls that later turned out to be a Basilisk. And before then, he hadn't even known when they had died, except for when he was young – no thanks to the Dursleys.

Harry awoke that morning brooding. When he looked over to see Ginny curled up against him, her red hair splayed out on the pillow around her, a smile appeared on his face as he thought about her. However, Ginny had already felt his emotions and started waking up herself.

"Harry." She said simply, sitting up and drawing him into a hug. Harry resisted the emotion briefly, initially intending to brood alone as he would have done previously, but before long he gave in to her comfort, and hugged her back, tightly.

"Harry, you've got to stop brooding about everything. I know you've gotten a lot better this year, but every now and again you fall into a pit of despair. I can't stand feeling you like that – I can't help but want to make everything better for you." Ginny said, softly.

"I'm sorry Ginny. I didn't mean to wake you up. It's just, this is the first time I've had a chance to really consider what Halloween means to me. For most the Wizarding World it's cause for celebration – the defeat of Voldemort, but to me it signifies the deaths of my parents. That just hit me and I couldn't help but fall into my emotions." Harry said, sadly.

"Don't apologise Harry." Ginny admonished gently. "I want to be here for you. We'll just stay here today, and we can do whatever. It doesn't matter. Maybe if you fell up to it, we can head to the feast this evening. Otherwise we can just head down to the kitchens to get some food instead." Ginny suggested.

Harry thought about this for a minute. "Let's stay here for now. I think we should attend the feast later – it would look odd if we didn't turn up to one of the few major feasts of the year. Maybe afterwards we can see if Neville and Demelza want to do something in the common room for the rest of the evening. But I don't think I want to see anyone else until the feast." He said.

Harry and Ginny had been visiting the Gryffindor common room most evenings. Most often they used the time to do some of their homework, but they spent a good amount of time with Neville and Demelza, either just talking or playing Exploding Snap or Gobstones. They still hadn't found an opportunity to talk to either of them privately as promised at the beginning of the year, but had vowed to do so soon.

"That sounds good to me." Ginny said. "I'll be back in a minute – I just need to use the bathroom quickly." She disentangled herself from their close embrace, and quickly slipped into the bathroom, Harry watching her leave.

While she was gone, Harry moved over to his trunk and rooted around in it. Soon, he found the photo album that Hagrid had given him back in his first year. He was just settling back on the bed when Ginny re-entered the room. She came over and sat herself beside him, swinging her legs across his lap and wrapping her arm around his waist, as she leant her head against his shoulder. Harry subconsciously reached out and pulled her into him with both arms, holding her tightly, in need of the comfort. He sighed in contentment.

"What have you got there Harry?" Ginny asked, curious, after they had just snuggled together for a few minutes.

"It's a photo album. Hagrid gave it to me at the end of my first year. It's got loads of pictures of my parents in it. I wanted to look through them all with you." Harry said, hoping she'd agree.

"Of course." Ginny replied instantly, pecking his cheek. "Do you want me to hold it?" She asked after a moment of hesitation, when it became evident that Harry didn't want to move his arms from around her waist just yet.

"Yes please." He replied, slightly embarrassed, dropping his face into her silky hair.

"It's fine. But if you want to talk to me about them, it might be a good idea if you could see them." Ginny teased gently, as she picked the book up and opened it to the first page.

* * *

Harry and Ginny spent most of the morning looking through the photo album. They were working through it very slowly, quietly discussing each picture while Ginny comforted Harry. Because of this, they only got about half way through the album.

When it got to lunch time, Harry still didn't look in the mood to venture out of the rooms, so Ginny turned to Godric's portrait, which she could see through the door that had been left slightly ajar. He seemed to understand what she wanted before she could even ask it.

"If you call for Polky, she will appear. She is the elf you first met in the kitchens – her ancestor was originally tasked with looking after the occupants of these rooms, and now the job has fallen to her. For many generations, it hasn't been much of a job, but she will be happy to help you in any way you wish. While the staff believe the elves are under the orders of the Headmaster, they actually work for the school itself. If a student asks for something, they can provide it, regardless of what the Headmaster says, unless it is at risk to their own lives. However, they will still follow the orders of the Headmaster if they are not changed by someone else – they will always follow orders. You must be careful with what you say to the elves here." Godric cautioned.

"Thank you Godric." Ginny said, sending him a smile, before calling "Polky!" a little awkwardly. She knew it would take some time to get used to calling out for an elf that wasn't there.

Seconds later, a house-elf appeared with a crack. Harry lifted his head, and both he and Ginny recognised her from the first trip to the kitchens. "Miss called Polky?" She asked.

"Hello Polky." Ginny said kindly, from her position on the bed, still held in Harry's lap. "Would it be possible to get some lunch in here today?"

"Of course, Miss. Polky will brings it in a few minutes." She said, disappearing again with another crack.

"Harry, if we're going to eat here we either need to go to the table in the other room, or at least you need to let me off your lap – you'll struggle to eat otherwise." Ginny said, knowing Harry really didn't want to move.

Harry sighed, before responding, "I know. I guess we should get dressed and head out into the main room. After all, we'll need to be dressed later anyway."

They both clambered out of bed, and quickly changed into some actual clothes. Ginny cast a freshening charm on both of them, as they had forgone showers that morning, before they headed out to curl on the loveseat. They didn't quite get back to the position they had originally been in, but they were still sitting close together.

Before long their lunch had arrived, and they set into it with gusto – neither of them having had any breakfast that morning. After lunch they snuggled up together again, and spent a few hours gently kissing each other, as Ginny tried to make Harry feel better and not brood as much. It seemed to work, as by that evening he was looking a lot happier, with a goofy grin on his face.

"Wipe that grin off Harry." Ginny instructed, jokingly. "As much as I like seeing it there, I think Ron would have something to say about it if you turned up to the Halloween Feast like that." She added.

Obediently, Harry attempted to restrain his grin, but every now and again Ginny could see it poking through on their way down to the Great Hall. "Good enough, I suppose." She muttered to herself, secretly pleased that she could have that effect on him. And besides, if she was truthful with herself, he made her feel the same way.

* * *

As was standard at Hogwarts, the castle was filled with decorations, especially the Great Hall, as was evident when Harry and Ginny entered for the wonderful Halloween Feast. This year, entertainment during the feast was provided by a crowd of bats above the house tables throughout the meal, interspaced with flaming orange streamers. Harry was taken by how well some of the streamers matched Ginny's fiery hair.

Most of the usual candles floating above the tables were not lit that evening, with lighting coming from hundreds of candle-filled carved pumpkins surrounding the sides of the hall. This cast a decidedly orange glow around the room, flickering the entire meal.

After everyone had finished eating, a performance was provided by the Hogwarts ghosts – gliding through the walls to perform some formation flying, before Nearly Headless Nick re-enacted his own death – the botched beheading – to great amusement of the watching students.

As originally planned, Harry and Ginny made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower afterwards, intending to spend some time with Neville and Demelza, and possibly Hermione. However, this plan was soon thwarted. They were on the last staircase, which led directly to the Fat Lady's Portrait, when they hit the back of a crowd of people. From behind, they could hear Percy's voice – "Excuse me, coming through. I'm Head Boy, yes, let me through please. What's the hold up here, you can't all have forgotten the password?" He said, forcing his way past and to the front of the crowd. Suddenly he stopped. "Someone get Professor Dumbledore, now." He said urgently.

* * *

Within minutes, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived. As they swept past towards the portrait, Harry and Ginny both caught a glimpse of what the problem was. The Fat Lady's Portrait had been ripped in several places, with strips of canvas on the floor in front of it. The Fat Lady herself was nowhere to be seen.

Dumbledore turned, his expression sombre, to see Professors Lupin and Snape joining them at the portrait. "We need to find her. Professor McGonagall, please inform Filch that we must search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady, she must still be here somewhere."

"Of course, Professor." Professor McGonagall said sharply. As she left back down the stairs, Peeves the Poltergeist zoomed up.

"You'll be lucky!" He cackled, spinning in circles in front of the Professors.

"What do you mean Peeves?" Dumbledore asked calmly. The poltergeist's initial glee at the sight of wreckage and worry was wiped off his face. He did not dare to taunt Dumbledore. The oily voice he adopted was no better than his original cackle.

"She's ashamed, Your Headship. Saw her running through a landscape down on the fourth floor, sir, doesn't want to be seen. Crying something dreadful." He paused. "Poor thing." He added, convincing no-one.

"Did she say who did it?" Professor Dumbledore asked quietly. Peeves however, did not have the same idea, and continued in a loud voice that all the Gryffindors could hear, as he span upside down, and peered between his legs.

"Oh yes, Professorhead. He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

The response was immediate. Chatter broke out among the students, whilst the Professors stared at each other in shock. How had Sirius Black managed to enter the castle undetected?

"QUIET!" Professor Dumbledore shouted, attempting to restore order. "Students, you will follow Professor Lupin back to the Great Hall." Once the crowd had moved away, he addressed Professor Snape. "Severus, please gather your Slytherins and meet them there. If you see either Filius or Pomona on the way, please ask them to do the same with their houses. I will meet you there in ten minutes."

* * *

Quarter of an hour later, in the Great Hall, all the students had been rounded up, and a head count carried out. Everyone was present. Three of the houses had no idea what was going on, but the Gryffindors were eagerly filling them in. The Hogwarts Rumour Mill was fast at work.

"Students." Professor Dumbledore addressed them, and chatter died down. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, the professors and I must search the castle. You will all be required to remain here tonight, for your safety. The prefects, should guard the entrances, and the Head Boy and Girl are in charge." At this, Percy puffed his chest out importantly. "We must leave now, but first." He swung his wand around, and the decorations from the feast that had so recently ended all disappeared, along with the house tables. In their places, a few hundred sleeping bags appeared. Above their heads, all the candles were re-lit, due to the loss of the pumpkins around the room. "That should do it, sleep tight." Dumbledore said, before closing the door behind himself and the other professors.

The noise level suddenly increased, as everyone started chatting, but Percy shouted, "Lights out in 10 minutes everyone!"

Harry and Ginny grabbed a sleeping bag each. They took them over to the corner, where they were soon joined by Fred and George.

"Looks like we'll have to put our plans off for a few days." George whispered.

"There's no way we'll get down to see the elves tonight." Fred agreed.

"Let's do it for Wednesday. It's a shame – I was looking forward to seeing the effects in double potions tomorrow. But Defence on Wednesday will give the same effect." Harry said.

Fred and George nodded their agreement, before arranging their sleeping bags beside Harry and Ginny. As the younger pair were now between the wall and the twins, they decided to risk zipping their bags together, into one larger sleeping bag. In the darkness that the hall would be plunged into shortly, it would be hard for anyone to notice anyway, and it would allow for them to at least remain touching all night, even if they weren't cuddling as close together as usual.

"Harry." Ginny whispered.

"Yes Ginny?" Harry replied, quiet but concerned.

"Be careful, please. We still don't know what Sirius Black wants. Who knows what Azkaban has done to him – he might not be in his right mind anymore."

"I promise, Ginny. I've got the best reason ever to be careful – you." He said tenderly, pulling her into a hug. "Try not to worry too much. Besides, I have no plans to go anywhere without you anytime soon anyway. If I'm not being careful, then neither are you." He joked, lightly.

Ginny let out a small smile. "Thanks Harry. And no, I'm not letting you out of my sight for more than a few minutes, ever."

"Quiet, everyone." They heard Percy shout. "Lights out now, settle down. No more talking." Harry and Ginny noticed most the candles go out again, leaving just a few illuminating the entire hall dimly. Ginny rolled towards Harry slightly and rested an arm across his stomach in the sleeping bag. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best they were going to get. Before long, they had both fallen asleep.

* * *

Several hours later, Harry awoke to the quiet sounds of feet walking across the hall. It was clear that whoever was there was at least attempting to move quietly, but the large solid flagstones that made up the floor were not conducive to stealth. He cracked his eyes open to see Ginny looking back at him. She put a finger to his lips, then slowly shifted so that her mouth was next to his ear.

"It's Dumbledore." She breathed. "He's walking over to Percy."

It was so quiet that Harry could barely hear it, let alone anyone else in the hall, but it served its purpose – he now knew what was happening. He knew that Ginny was much better than him at keeping quiet and staying in the shadows, allowing her to see much more than he would have been able to.

Soon, the couple could hear quiet voices approaching, as Dumbledore and Percy slowly walked around the room, following a path left between sleeping bags near the wall. Luckily, the bags of their fellow students had been arranged in such a way that this path did not pass directly past Harry and Ginny, allowing them to remain unseen.

"Any sign of him Professor?" Percy asked lowly.

"No. Is all well here?" The venerable Professor asked.

"Everything under control sir." Percy answered importantly.

"Good. There is no sense behind moving them now – it's only a few hours until morning. They can stay here for the night, and you can move them back tomorrow. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?" Percy inquired.

"Hiding, down on the second floor, in a map of Argyllshire. Apparently, her refusal to let Black in without the password caused him to attack. She got away unharmed but is still very distressed. Once she has calmed down, I will have Mr Filch restore her painting, so she can return to her duties."

More footsteps could be heard approaching, swiftly this time.

"Professor." They heard Snape greet curtly.

"Quiet, Severus, there's no need to wake the children." Dumbledore admonished.

"Of course." Came the reply, slightly quieter. Harry didn't think it was possible for Snape to actually whisper.

"The whole of the third floor has been searched, and Filch has done the dungeons. He's not there."

"What about the towers – Astronomy, Divination, the Owlery?" Dumbledore asked.

"All searched…" Snape started.

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before – ah – the start of term?" said Snape. This time he really was quiet – as if trying to block Percy out of the conversation. Ginny had cracked her eyes open, and could see her brother was listening raptly, clearly interested in the conversation at hand.

"I do, Severus." Dumbledore replied warningly.

"It seems almost impossible that Black could have…" Snape started again.

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it." Dumbledore said sharply. His tone clearly indicated that the subject was closed. Snape stayed silent at this point. "I must go down to the Dementors. I promised I would inform them when we completed our search."

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy asked, intrigued.

"Oh yes." Dumbledore replied, his tone cold now. "But no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster, especially given the events at the end of the Quidditch match last weekend."

They heard three sets of footsteps moving away, as Dumbledore headed to the main entrance, and Percy and Snape moved over to check on the students on the other side of the hall.

* * *

The excitement of Halloween night soon wore off, as no trace of Sirius Black was found anywhere in the castle. The portrait of Sir Cadogan had temporarily replaced the Fat Lady, and he frustrated the Gryffindors to no end with his insistence at acting out battle scenes before allowing them to enter, even after they gave him the password. To make matters worse, he insisted on changing the password at least once a week, invariably to a complicated string of nonsense words. While secure, the Gryffindors were struggling with remembering them at all.

Before long, it was Wednesday evening. As pre-arranged, Harry and Ginny were chatting to the Twins in the common room whilst everyone else headed off to bed. Eventually, only the four of them remained. Harry withdrew his invisibility cloak from a pocket of his robes, while Ginny unfolded the Marauder's Map. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." She said, tapping it with her wand. They all watched the lines ink themselves across the parchment, forming into the map of Hogwarts. Once it was complete, they checked to make sure that nobody was nearby to the tower, so that they could easily get out undetected.

"Filch is down on the second floor, and Professor McGonagall is on the fourth. Oh, and Snape is prowling the Dungeons." Harry said, looking over the map. "We should be okay to leave now." He threw the cloak over their heads, and they quickly made their way out of the portrait hole. Sir Cadogan was awake, and as the portrait hole closed up behind them, he drew his sword.

"Who goes there? Show yourself, you rogue!" He said, waving his sword in the air. The four teens just moved off down the hall, ignoring him. They knew he wouldn't tell Filch anything – he'd get too caught up in having an audience for his performances.

The four hurried along the corridors to the original location of Sir Cadogan's portrait. While the portrait was no longer there, the castle seemed to have adapted, as there was now a lighter coloured stone wall in place, where the entrance to the passageway should have been. Ginny started running her hands over it, and sure enough, she found a notch. This one, when pressed, caused the entire section of wall to swing inwards. They entered the passage, and Fred swung the 'door' closed behind them.

Before long, they had arrived down at the kitchens, using the second secret passageway that started from the fourth floor. They had had a near miss with Mrs Norris, who had been prowling the Study Area as they arrived, but luckily the cat didn't notice the moving tapestry, and she soon stalked out of the room.

Once in the basement corridor, Fred and George took the lead. Heading away from the kitchens, they soon came upon another door. "You two wait here." Fred said.

"It's very noisy in there…" George continued.

"…and the elves trust us."

"Just keep watch on the map and make sure no-one is coming."

"We'll be out in a jiffy."

Harry and Ginny both looked at the map, and saw that Filch was now up on the sixth floor with Mrs Norris, whilst Professor McGonagall was on the first. It was getting quite late now, so she was probably heading back to her office and quarters for the night. Professor Snape was no longer in the Dungeons – he had now made his way up to the ground floor, and was moving towards the kitchen corridor.

Just when Harry and Ginny thought they were going to have to go in and get the Twins, they emerged from the laundry room, satisfied grins on their faces. Harry quickly pulled the cloak off the ground slightly so they could see where they were, and the Twins joined them underneath it again. And not a moment too soon, because just then Snape strode around the corner, robes billowing behind him. The four pressed into the wall, giving Snape plenty of room to pass them. He continued on purposefully, and they let out a breath as he turned the corner at the other end of the corridor. Quickly, they made their way back to the secret passage, climbing the stairs back up to the fourth floor, then the other passageway to the seventh. After dropping the Twins off back at the common room, Harry and Ginny then made their way back down to Godric's Study for the night.

* * *

The next day, Harry and Ginny were eagerly awaiting the effects of their prank. They'd seen Malfoy at breakfast, and nothing had been amiss. However, it was now the afternoon, and they were headed to Potions class. The prank should have taken affect by now, and they were eager to see Malfoy's response.

Sure enough, as the lesson wore on, Malfoy started fidgeting more and more. Eventually, it got so bad that he knocked into his cauldron, sending the potion inside across the floor. Luckily, they'd only been working on a simple healing potion that day, so it didn't have any bad side effects. However, Snape was still displeased.

"What is the meaning of this, Mr Malfoy?" He asked with barely concealed anger. "This is something I'd expect of Longbottom, not you."

Malfoy shifted uncomfortably, before asking, "Can I speak to you in private please, Professor?"

"No, Mr Malfoy, you may not. I must remain here to supervise the class. If you can't stay still, sit in the corner away from any delicate equipment. You can say whatever it is in your detention, which you will serve with me after dinner this evening."

Malfoy sulkily moved over to the corner, fidgeting even more. Harry and Ginny barely managed to stifle their laughs at his discomfort. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Snape asked, glaring around the room. "Continue working. If these potions are left for even a minute too long at the simmering stage they are useless." He said, striding back to his desk and proceeding to ignore the class again.

Harry and Ginny sighed. Even though Snape had actually disciplined Malfoy, they knew he wouldn't get anywhere near as bad a detention as they would have had they incurred his wrath, even for much smaller issues. But that was to be expected - Snape was as biased as they came, and it didn't appear that anything would change that.

* * *

At dinner that evening, Harry and Ginny told Fred and George what had happened. They all looked over at the Slytherin table, but to their disappointment Malfoy seemed to have recovered. He must have returned to his dormitory before coming to dinner. It didn't matter, he'd be just as affected again later that evening, during his detention.

Fred and George promised that they had more of the powder should it be needed, and Malfoy wouldn't be able to see what was happening. The powder was designed to shrink the items it was applied to, but over several hours. It required contact with the skin to start working, and would slowly contract the clothing until the item was removed from the body, at which point the lack of skin contact would return it to its original size and shape immediately.

* * *

That evening, Malfoy arrived at the Potions room in the Dungeons again for his detention.

"Now, Mr Malfoy. What was it you wanted to talk about?" Snape asked.

"It's, err... well, someone's pranked me." Draco admitted, shifting uncomfortably side to side.

"What do you mean? Spit it out - I see no reason for you knocking your potion over in class."

"Well, for the whole day, my underwear feels like its been getting smaller and smaller. It got so tight in potions that I couldn't stop shifting around. I ran back to the dormitories and changed before dinner, but now it's happening again!" Malfoy complained.

"Do not insult my intelligence, Mr Malfoy. How would someone have accessed your underwear, which I believe would be safely stored in your dormitory? Nobody should be able to access the Slytherin dungeons, and you can't be suggesting it's a Slytherin that's done this to you?" Snape asked sceptically. Really, he didn't believe Malfoy in the slightest, but he had to maintain his cover, and Draco reported everything that happened back to his father.

"I don't know, Professor!" Malfoy whined. "Someone's done this. But as soon as I take them off, they look normal again."

"With no proof, there is nothing I can do. I advise you consider when you last bought new clothes. Maybe a shopping trip would be in order for the next Hogsmeade weekend, Mr Malfoy?" Snape asked rhetorically. "For your detention, you will clean the floor of the mess you made earlier." Malfoy had been at the edge of the room anyway, so the potion had not needed to be vanished when it was spilt, especially as it was the last lesson of the day. "The mop is in the corner, get to work - no magic!" Snape continued.

If it was a Gryffindor in detention, they would undoubtably have been using a toothbrush and dirty cloth to clean the floor. However, as sceptical as Snape was about Malfoy's reasons, he was still a Slytherin, therefore was permitted use of the mop. It would allow him to finish the detention in just half an hour, rather than working until curfew, when Snape would have had to just vanish it anyway.

"Yes sir." Malfoy said sadly, moving over to pick up the mop, trying to ignore the tightening of his clothes.

* * *

The next day, Harry and Ginny were walking along the edge of the lake, hand in hand. They hadn't had much time to themselves recently, what with prank-planning, being in the Infirmary and spending the evenings with Neville and Demelza, so were enjoying the opportunity for a romantic evening stroll on the grounds.

It wasn't long before they reached a shady copse of trees. Ginny pulled Harry into the copse and started kissing him, Harry responded in kind, and before long they were lost in each other, oblivious to the world. They still hadn't progressed beyond simple closed-mouth kisses, not that either of them cared - they knew how the other felt about them.

After a few minutes, Ginny eventually pulled away, slightly out of breath. "What brought that on?" Harty asked, a goofy grin on his face. He wasn't complaining, but had been caught a little of guard and was slightly confused.

"Nothing - do I need a reason to kiss my husband?" Ginny asked, after a quick glance around to make sure they were alone.

"Of course not." Harry replied. "I was just surprised, that's all." He explained.

"Well, don't be. I plan to kiss you for many years to come. It would get very frustrating if you were surprised every time."

"I'm not taken by surprise every time you kiss me!" Harry protested. "I just wasn't expecting to be dragged under this copse halfway through our walk."

"Oh well, you were." Ginny commented unsympathetically. "And I'm not going to apologise for that."

"Please don't." Harry said, pulling her back in for another kiss as he ran his hands through her long silky hair.

* * *

A little later, Harry and Ginny were continuing their walk, when they saw something moving. They had come partway round the lake now, and would soon have to turn around as they were approaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"What was that?" Ginny asked, pointing into the undergrowth at the edge of the forest, where the movement had rustled a few leaves.

"I don't know." Harry said, moving forward to check it out. "Some sort of creature - but they're rarely this close to the grounds." He commented.

Harry lifted up the leaves of a bush, where they had seen the movement heading, and Ginny peered underneath. "It's some sort of small creature." She said. Just then, the animal turned around to face her. It looked sort of shocked for a second, before Ginny gasped "Harry, it's Scabbers!"

"What?" Harry asked. "I thought Ron had lost him again."

"Clearly he has." Ginny said. "He's unlikely to know his pet rat is wondering around in the Forbidden Forest." As she was saying this, she reached under the bush to pick the rat up. It squirmed in her hands. Harry quickly cast _Petrificus Totalus_.

"I don't want him to hurt either himself or you." He explained, when Ginny glanced at him. "And this will be easier for carrying him - I don't know how to conjure a cage yet, and it probably wouldn't last long enough for us to get him back up to the castle." He added.

"Fair enough." Ginny replied – she had not relished the thought of being bitten once again by Scabbers – he'd always seemed to have a taste for blood. "Let's just get him back up to the castle. Ron probably won't thank us for it, but oh well. It's the thought that counts, I guess." She said sadly.

They quickly headed back across the grounds the way they came, and into the Entrance Hall. Once there they made their way up to the Gryffindor Common Room. They knew that they were most likely to find Ron either in the common room or his dormitory, waiting for dinner to start. He was the least likely person to be doing homework in their free period – he was probably just lounging around.

"Hey Ron." Ginny called, upon entering the dormitory. She quickly noted that he was the only one in there, lying on his back in the middle of his bed.

"What do you want, Ginny?" Ron asked moodily. "And why are you in my dormitory, anyway?"

"Well, that's no way to greet your sister." Ginny said affronted. "If you must know, I found your pet rat. But if you don't want him, I'm sure Crookshanks will…" Ron sat up on his bed, effectively cutting her off.

"You found Scabbers?" He asked. "He went missing last weekend. I thought he was gone for sure this time." He took the rat out of Ginny's hand. "What have you done to him?" He asked, when the rat failed to move.

"Harry froze him. You know – _Petrificus Totalus_?" Ron looked over her shoulder to see Harry standing just behind her for the first time. His eyes narrowed. "We didn't know how to conjure a cage, and didn't want to be bitten. Your rat has a taste for blood, you know." Ginny said firmly.

"Oh, well, I've got his cage here. Can you unfreeze him, please?" Ron asked.

"Why don't you do it yourself Ron." Harry suggested. "It is a first-year spell, after all."

With that, both Harry and Ginny left the dorms, to head down to dinner. For once, Ron would not be there as it started as he had the more pressing problem of a frozen rat to deal with. Not for the first time that week, he wished he hadn't had that major argument with Hermione. She wasn't even talking to him anymore, let alone letting him copy her homework.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in the Headmaster's chair, in the middle of the staff table, and pressed his fingers together lightly. He peered over his half-moon glasses down the Gryffindor table, watching one Harry Potter very carefully. Many different events had come in his way, but finally he had found an opportunity to use the love potion, and draw Harry away from Ginny's influence. After all, they had no idea about the full repercussions of their bond. Nobody should think anything of it when they split up – after all, very few knew about the bond in the first place, and teen romances were notorious for not lasting.

He stifled a smirk as he watched Harry take another sip from his goblet. The potion was slow acting – it would take an hour or so to have an effect, and would cause Harry's attractions for Ginny to be directed to everyone. This served Dumbledore's purposes well, as he needed to redirect the boy's attention, but not risk him becoming attached to anyone else, either. This should cause Harry to break up with Ginny purely because he realised he felt no different about her to anyone else, and not due to feelings for any one particular person.

* * *

Down at the Gryffindor table, Harry leaned over to Ginny, and whispered in her ear. "Ginny, something feels weird." He said, quietly.

Ginny looked over at him in concern. "Are you ill, Harry?" She asked.

"I don't think so. Something about my pumpkin juice has just been, well, _off_ , this evening." He replied. "And now my stomach feels weird, all sort of fluttery."

"Your pumpkin juice. I wonder, has Dumbledore gone through with it?" Ginny murmured to herself.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I was wondering if Dumbledore had actually attempted to use a love potion on you." Ginny said. "Come on, we're going to see Madam Pomfrey, she'll be able to find out for us." She said, swinging her legs over the bench and standing up, before holding a hand out to Harry. He pulled himself up, before holding a hand to his stomach. "Wow, that felt weird. Let's get moving. Something isn't agreeing with me standing up right now." He said. They quickly made their way to the out of the Great Hall and up to the Hospital Wing, not noticing the concerned look that had appeared on Dumbledore's face. Something clearly hadn't gone according to plan.


End file.
